Infrastructure Planning Manager – APAC

About:

SailGP is racing redefined. The sport’s pinnacle league, SailGP was established in 2018 and is headquartered in London and New Zealand. The annual, global championship aims to Race for the Future by showcasing the power of nature and accelerating change.

The fan-centric, inshore racing takes place among the sport’s top athletes in some of the most iconic harbors around the world, and offers the sport’s largest monetary prize of $1 million. Rival national teams battle it out in identical supercharged F50 catamarans, engineered for intense racing at electrifying speeds exceeding 60 mph/100 kph.

In 2020, SailGP set a new standard as the first climate positive sports and entertainment property, and began delivering actions and innovations that advance the global adoption of clean energy. Underpinning the organization’s purpose-driven agenda is a diversification of the league, with the goal of immediately progressing gender equity and racial inclusivity.

SailGP is a global organization with defined values that shape the culture of its diverse team: deliver the best, break boundaries, make an impact, stand together and strike a balance.

Role Purpose

The Infrastructure Planning Manager (APAC) is a dual-focus role responsible for leading regional infrastructure procurement and overseeing technical site planning across all SailGP events in the Asia-Pacific region. Working as the primary technical link between the region and our central team, this role partners closely with the central Infrastructure Design Team to ensure site layouts and technical architectural drawings meet regional operational needs, local building codes, and commercial budgets.

Rather than generating CAD layouts directly, this role translates site requirements, manages regional suppliers, leads tender processes, and ensures flawless on-site build execution and technical compliance across the Tech Site, Race Stadium, and operational zones.

Key Responsibilities

1. Regional Infrastructure Procurement & Commercial Management

• Tenders & Sourcing: Lead competitive regional and local tender processes for temporary overlay, temporary structures, site utilities, and mechanical handling equipment (MHE) across all APAC event locations.
• End-to-End Supplier Management: Lead the hands-on, end-to-end management of infrastructure suppliers from sourcing and appointment through to physical delivery, de-rig, and close-out - overseeing Statements of Work (SOWs), contracting, onboarding, performance management, subcontractor controls, insurance compliance, commercial issue resolution, and ongoing vendor relationships.
• Supplier & MSA Management: Negotiate and manage quotes, rate cards, and multi-year Master Services Agreements (MSAs) with local and regional suppliers to leverage scale, drive value engineering, and reduce unit costs.
• Budget Ownership & Management: Own and maintain regional infrastructure budgets, including forecasting, commitments, contingency, and variance management - ensuring all procurement and expenditure remain strictly within approved event budgets, procurement frameworks, and financial gateways.

2. Technical Planning & Central Design Collaboration

• Design Interface: Act as the primary technical bridge between the APAC region and the Central Site Design team, providing accurate site data, spatial constraints, and local requirements to guide CAD development.
• Drawing Review & Validation: Work closely with the Central Design team to review detailed site layouts, technical architectural drawings, and build-phase plans, ensuring they accurately reflect both global partner requirements (e.g., Aggreko, DP World) and local venue reality.
• Cross-Departmental Integration: Ensure the technical requirements for all functional areas - including the Tech Team, Broadcast compound, Media Centre, Hospitality, commercial activations and other event operational, spectator, hospitality and marine infrastructure requirements are fully integrated into the approved site plans.

3. Technical Specification & Value Engineering

• Technical Catalog: Maintain and contribute to the definitive catalog of technical specifications for temporary event infrastructure within the APAC region.
• Value Engineering: Partner with the central Infrastructure Design team to value-engineer overlay plans, ensuring chosen structures physically fit spatial allocations, meet local engineering/safety codes, and align with budget targets.
• Structural & Branding Review: Conduct detailed reviews of structural drawings before issue to ensure alignment with branding ahead of print deadlines.
• Construction Feasibility: Analyse build feasibility alongside site delivery teams, verifying that procured infrastructure can be delivered, constructed, and de-rigged within the allocated on-site schedule.
• Engineering, Approvals & Certification: Coordinate the engineering, certification, permitting and authority approval requirements for temporary infrastructure, ensuring appropriate structural, fire, accessibility, wind, loading and other technical requirements are identified, documented and closed out prior to operational use.

4. On-Site Build Execution, Technical Assurance & Safety

• Site Readiness & Marking: Lead pre-build site assessments and manage preparatory site works (including site marking out, utility checks, and ground conditions) ahead of Day 1 of build.
• Build Supervision & Quality Assurance: Serve as the on-site technical authority during build and de-rig, auditing physical installations against engineered architectural drawings to resolve deviations prior to operational handover.
• Site Support & Handover Management: Provide targeted on-site presence as and when required, supporting delivery teams rather than providing full-time site management, by producing comprehensive handover packs prior to Day 1 of build. Maintain ongoing remote availability throughout the build and derig phases to troubleshoot supplier, contractor, and technical issues as needed.
• HSE & Compliance: Enforce strict health, safety, sustainability, and risk management standards across all contractors, suppliers, and Local Production Agencies in accordance with SailGP policies and local statutory regulations.
• Brand & Finish Standards: Collaborate with on-site Branding and Commercial teams to guarantee the fit, finish, and aesthetic quality of all structural installations reflect SailGP’s premium brand guidelines.