Mr. Kazushige Endo assumed the position of director of UNCRD in August 2018. Prior to joining UNCRD, he was deputy director-general of the Great East Japan Earthquake (11 March 2011) reconstruction projects in the Iwate Office, Reconstruction Agency of Cabinet Secretariat. 

He joined the ministry of land, infrastructure, transport, and tourism in 1990 after graduating from Kyoto University with a Master's degree in transport engineering. He held more than ten engineering positions at government headquarters, the national highway management offices, and local authorities in Japan before transferring to Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the World Bank as senior highway engineer, Transport and ICT Global Practice (Africa Region) a position he held from 2012 to 2015. He has had varied experience in international development projects.

Mr. Kazushige Endo is a certified professional engineer (Japan) and an APEC engineer.