Canute Chandrakumaran

Canute Chandrakumaran – The Strategic Engineer with a Civic Heart

A Chartered Professional Engineer with 30+ years of boots-on-the-ground experience and a mind wired for high-level strategy, Canute is the rare blend of technical mastery and visionary leadership. From managing $30M transport budgets to shaping city infrastructure, he’s a force in New Zealand’s public works scene.

Currently leading Planning & Programming – Transport at Porirua City Council, Canute's fingerprints are on everything from traffic safety to regulatory reform. Whether he's tailoring a business case, fine-tuning a Better Business Case submission, or exploring new frontiers in self-employment, he brings precision, professionalism, and people-first purpose to the table.

Managerial professional with proven record of streamlining processes and leading high-performing teams. Known for strong analytical skills and commitment to achieving results. Teams rely on collaborative leadership and adaptability to changing needs.

But he’s not just about roads and regulations — Canute has a bold streak. Whether it’s launching a consultancy or scoping out a local café on Cobham Street, he’s always thinking one step ahead. If there’s a better way forward, Canute will map it — then build it

Canute Chandrakumaran brings elite-level management capability backed by three decades of engineering and infrastructure leadership. He has consistently delivered complex transport, regulatory, and civic development projects by combining strategic foresight with operational control.

• Strategic Planning & Execution: Currently overseeing planning, programming, and project delivery at Porirua City Council, Canute manages multimillion-dollar transport portfolios with disciplined alignment to long-term city goals.
• Team Leadership & Development: A natural mentor and collaborator, he leads multidisciplinary teams across planning, safety, and regulatory functions. He cultivates a culture of accountability, innovation, and shared purpose.
• Contract & Financial Management: As Engineer to Contract on high-value infrastructure works, Canute ensures contractual integrity and fiscal responsibility — managing capital budgets exceeding $30M with rigor and transparency.
• Programme & Project Controls: Certified in PRINCE2 and Business Case development, he implements best-practice controls to mitigate risk, optimise delivery, and maintain stakeholder confidence.
• Stakeholder & Governance Engagement: Adept at navigating council, iwi, community, and central government interests, Canute aligns technical outcomes with policy direction and public good.

• Design and construction of shared pathways.
• Implementation of renewal programme
• Culvert upgrades and drainage improvements
• Auckland Council, Healthy Waters, Sewer main upgrade
• Pak N Save, Alderman Drive project, $30,000,000, 2021-11-15, 2 years
• New World, Papatoetoe, $20,000,000, 2020, 1 year
• Development of Super Lots for Panuku, Auckland, $2,000,000, 2020-12-01, 12 Months
• Seal extension proposals
• Business justifications for rehabilitation Vs reconstruction projects including stakeholder consultation
• Development of asset/ activity management plans
• Project cashflow forecasts and budgeting.
• Car park and driveway design and constriction
• Flood mitigation

Programme Manager/Project Manager for Auckland Transport for the Westgate Bus interchange.

Project manager for the planning and Implementation of double decker bus services.

Monitor and update leadership team on the project update by introducing dashboard report.

project managed the construction of dedicated bus lane in collaboration with Waterview tunnel project

• Initiatives arising from the Road Safety Audit of Expressways Programme in Singapore., 11th REAAA Conference, Cairns, 2003-01-01
• Road Safety Targets 2010 and Roadside Safety., IPENZ Technical Conference, Transportation Group, Auckland, 2001-01-01
• Road Design and Roadside Safety., Engineering for Road Safety Symposium, Rotorua, 2000-01-01
• Risk of Negligence in Road Safety., Transit Annual Conference, Rotorua, 2000-01-01
• Roundabout performance with traffic flow variations., IPENZ Annual Conference, Wellington, 1998-01-01