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Page Category: Leadership

2016 - InterSearch operates in 53 countries

Leadership

January 22, 2018
InterSearch Worldwide

Meet the Team

Our diverse and multi-geographical team allows InterSearch to be closer to clients and candidates to ensure a long term relationship, and deliver a high level of service excellence across the region and beyond.

John Robinson

Chairman

Samantha Robinson

Managing Director - Middle East

Harris Karaolides

Managing Partner

Nicholas Harvey

Managing Partner

Daniel Robinson

Managing Partner

Kinda Fakhouri

Regional Head of Research - Middle East

Donna Agustin

Regional Finance Manager

Ahmed Daoud

Consultant KSA

Veronika Nogovitsina

Consultant UAE

Hurriya Mirza

Consultant Oman & Operations Manager

Ciara Cain

Senior Research Associate

Summer Hamad

Engagement Manager

George Varghese

Engagement Manager

Arwa Ghamlas

Research Associate

Saud Al Mamari

Research Associate

Malak Al Zarafy

Research Associate

Bethan Hurst-haynes

Executive Assistant & Office Manager

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John Robinson

Chairman

John Robinson is Chairman for InterSearch Middle East and a veteran of InterSearch Worldwide, establishing InterSearch Australia in 1991 and InterSearch Middle East in 1998. Given his longevity as an international executive search guru, John has always taken positions of leadership and global governance within InterSearch as a trusted advisor – he was Board Director and Chairman of the Standards & Quality Committee for many years.

John understands the uniqueness of doing business and being part of the community in key markets such as Saudi Arabia, Oman and UAE; his depth of executive search industry experience has been pivotal to the success InterSearch Middle East. He has a BSc in Mathematics & Statistics from the University of St Andrews in Scotland.

Samantha Robinson

Managing Director - Middle East

Sam is the Managing Director – Middle East & youngest female Board Member of InterSearch Worldwide. She also leads the Global Practice for Banking & Financial Services & is very passionate member of Diversity & Inclusion Practice Group worldwide, especially with regards to a strong commitment to Women and GCC Nationalisation into executive leadership across the Middle East region.

Born in Kuwait, educated in Australia, she is a seasoned expat that has lived and worked in Australia, London, Canada and last 15 years in the Middle East. She has over 20 years of diversified global executive search and large multi-national corporate recruitment experience across both developed and emerging markets of Middle East, Europe, Africa, APAC & Americas.

Previously in London UK, she worked within the Global HR teams of Merrill Lynch Investment Bank and BP International. In the Middle East, she also worked with Standard Chartered Bank as the Regional Talent Acquisition Specialist, Middle East, Pakistan & Africa (MEPA); focused on the global diversity & inclusion agenda to attract Arab, African & female talent across the region.

InterSearch Middle East growth strategy over the last 5 years has been to expand across the GCC with four dedicated offices and teams in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Oman & Riyadh. It is very important to stay connected to clients and candidates across the region but also become part of the community in each geography.

Sam holds a Bachelor of Science, with a major in Psychology, from the University of Melbourne in Australia.

Harris Karaolides

Managing Partner

Harris is the General Manager InterSearch Middle East. He currently also serves as Global Leader for InterSearch Worldwide’s Energy & Renewables Practice Group.

He began his career in 1989 and has held marketing, sales and operations roles with reputable companies in New York City and Athens, Greece. He has 22 years of experience as an executive search consultant, joining InterSearch Greece in 1998 and eventually becoming the General Manager of InterSearch’s Athens office. Before joining InterSearch Middle East he successfully completed hundreds of executive search assignments in Greece and Central-Eastern Europe. While leading the Athens office, Harris was also the Global Media Relations Manager for InterSearch Worldwide playing a significant role in increasing visibility and awareness for the Global organization. Harris currently serves clients in the Middle East, Africa and East Mediterranean in sectors such as Consumer Goods, Industrial and Energy..

Harris holds a Master’s Degree from Syracuse University’s prestigious S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications in New York and B.Sc. in Business Administration from Deree, The American College of Greece. He has received InterSearch Worldwide’s annual Excellence Award.

Nicholas Harvey

Managing Partner

Nicholas is currently a Partner and Regional Director with InterSearch Middle East. Covering the Middle East and Africa region for InterSearch, Nicholas’s focus is on attracting C-suite and Board Level leaders primarily within; Transport (Aviation, Shipping & Rail), Infrastructure, Family Groups and Supranational organisations.

Nicholas prides himself on his ability to understand and collate his clients’ needs, their culture and business strategy coupled with an aptitude to attract and deliver the right Executives that will have the desired long-lasting impact. He has been able to build long-lasting relationships through his open and honest informed approach, never over-promising on what can be delivered.

Nicholas began his career in 1996 and henceforth has accumulated over 20 years within Executive Search and Recruitment. He has covered the full gamut of Recruitment services; working on the client side as a Director of Talent, in a UK contingent firm, ran his own RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing) company from India and spent 7 years as a Director in a tier one Executive Search firm in the Middle East before joining the InterSearch family in 2015.

His career has spanned four continents and includes employment in Sydney, Tokyo, San Francisco, London, Pune (India) and most recently, in Dubai. For the past 14 years Nicholas has lived and worked in the UAE with his wife and three children.
Nicholas holds a bachelor’s in economics from Newcastle University, UK

Daniel Robinson

Managing Partner

Daniel Robinson is the General Manager of InterSearch Oman, based in Muscat.

He has spent the past 15 years focussing on Executive Search assignments on ‘C Suite’ and senior leadership appointments throughout the GCC having lived in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain (where he also served clients in KSA) and now Oman.

Daniel brings his expertise to clients in the Middle East on key issues such leadership development, leadership assessment, and executive search.

His GCC experience has seen him cover multiple sectors including; Banking & Finance, Oil & Gas and Energy, Government & Semi Government institutions and Property and Construction.

During this time, he also has advised his clients on HR Advisory, Payroll Solutions, Contingency Recruitment, Contractors and Learning & Development.

Prior to working in the Middle East, Daniel spent 5 years working in London, UK for a mix of multinational companies before he joining Michael Page a large international recruitment company.

Daniel holds a BCom, Marketing & HR from Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia.

Kinda Fakhouri

Regional Head of Research - Middle East

Kinda is the Regional Head of Research with InterSearch Middle East based in Dubai

She has built her Executive Search career over the past 15 years in the Middle East Region catering to clients across multiple sectors, her experience in Human Capital Research and Development along with her other skills and abilities gives her an uncanny advantage to help Organizations in their growth process, creating sustained value to all its stakeholders.

Kinda has worked across a wide spectrum of sectors within private and government sectors, including industrial, consumer, Aviation, Real Estate, Construction, Diversified Family Conglomerates, Telecom and more.

Prior to joining InterSearch, Kinda worked for another Regional Search Firm where she held a role of Sr. Research Associate for almost ten years attracting senior executive talents to the MEA region with a special focus on the Saudi Arabia market.

She kicked-off her career within the Telecom industry in Jordan before moving Dubai, in 2005 where she worked in the Hospitality space for two years.

Kinda holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Jordan in Amman, Jordan.

Donna Agustin

Regional Finance Manager

Bio

Ahmed Daoud

Consultant KSA

Ahmed is the Regional Director and Head of KSA with InterSearch Middle East, based in Riyadh

Ahmed currently serves clients in the Middle East with the focus on the Saudi market in a variety of sectors such as Energy, Manufacturing and Family Conglomerates.

Ahmed has over 12 years of experience and has held different HR roles with reputable companies in Brazil and the UAE. He possesses an in-depth knowledge in Talent Acquisition, C-suite level recruitment and Leadership and psychometric assessments.

Ahmed brings other expertise in Succession planning, Change Management and Organization Development along with his knowledge of the GCC markets. Before joining InterSearch Middle East he led the resourcing and development of several projects with Shell and Odebrecht International.

Ahmed holds a bachelor’s degree from the ESC Business School, and he is an associate member of the Charted Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and a certified Organization Development consultant by the Institute of Organization Development.

Veronika Nogovitsina

Consultant UAE

Hurriya Mirza

Consultant Oman & Operations Manager

Hurriya is a Senior Research Associate and Operations with InterSearch Middle East, based in Muscat.

She has 9 years of professional experience, She launched her executive search career at InterSearch Middle East undertaking mid-level to C Suite assignments in Oman in 2013 and was chosen to represent InterSearch Middle East at the InterSearch Academy 2014 held in Frankfurt, Germany.

In addition to InterSearch, Hurriya also is a Consultant with our sister company in Oman; Talent Development LLC and has been recruiting mid-level to senior positions across a variety of sectors.

Her knowledge consists of client management, due diligence, business development, consultancy services and human resources. Having grown up in Oman, she has strong experience of various industry sectors in the Oman market which include Banking & Finance, Oil & Gas, Engineering, and Manufacturing & Construction and has been actively involved in developing and maintaining long term relationships with her clients by providing them a variety of professional services.

Prior to her work with InterSearch, she worked as a Senior Auditor within a well-reputed auditing firm for 3 years.

Hurriya holds Bachelors (Hons) in Accounting and Finance from Bradford University, School of Management, UK and is SHRM–CP certified, USA.

Ciara Cain

Senior Research Associate

Ciara is a Senior Research Associate with InterSearch ME, based in the Dubai office.

She launched her executive search career with InterSearch Middle East in 2008 based in Muscat, Oman executing C-Suite assignments & localisation project across the Middle East.

In 2013 Ciara moved to Dubai and worked client side with an International Engineering Consulting firm as a HR Business Partner supporting multiple offices across the region and responsible for all Talent Acquisition, Global Mobility, HR Operations and implementing Global HR initiatives across the Middle region. She has also worked inhouse Talent Acquisition for major multinational companies in the UAE such as Emirates and Danzas.

Ciara re-joined the InterSearch family in 2017 and has since delivered senior leadership executive placements across various industry sectors and functions.

With a nice blend of corporate and client experience, Ciara prides herself on providing a great candidate experience. She is agile, well-respected and a credible consultant, with strong relationships amongst clients, key-stakeholders, and candidates.

Ciara holds a Bachelor (Hons) in Human Resources Management from Edinburgh Napier University, UK

Summer Hamad

Engagement Manager

George Varghese

Engagement Manager

George is an Engagement Manager with InterSearch ME, based in the Dubai office.

At InterSearch, George is tasked with executing C-Suite assignments across the Middle East and Africa region engaging with candidates from around the world. With deep-rooted network of candidates, clients, and industry professionals, he is a well respected and credible Search Consultant in the market.
George has over 12 years of In-house Leadership Hiring and Executive Search experience with Management Consulting, Information Technology and Real Estate Development companies in India and UAE. In the last 7 years with InterSearch, he has advised CEOs, Board Members, Ministers, and other senior executives on critical executive search, assessment, and selection strategies, backed by credible and actionable data.
He started his career with Accenture managing client recruitment for several fortune 500 organizations before moving on to Infosys, the second-largest Consulting & Technology company in India, where he led the Management Consulting recruitment for experienced professionals and campus graduates. During his tenure, he played a crucial role in building and branding the consulting capabilities of the company as well as collaborated on technology hiring across industry verticals and horizontals.
He has a BA in English Literature and MBA in Human Resources & Finance.

Arwa Ghamlas

Research Associate

Arwa is a Saudi talent with high potential, She started her career in 2019 as a Customer Service Specialist at the Communications and Information Technology Commission in Saudi before joining InterSearch Middle East in 2020 as a Research Associate where She gained extensive recruitment experience within several Industries across the region including Government, Oil and Gas, Financial services, healthcare, Family Conglomerates, Aviation, etc. with a high focus on Nationalization assignments.

Arwa holds a BSc. in English Language and Literature from Prince Sattam Bin Abdul-Aziz University, Saudi Arabia, with second honor Degree.

Saud Al Mamari

Research Associate

Saud’s diverse professional career spans over 9 years working in different sectors from retail, construction, branding and oil & gas where he was leading and managing different sales and operational teams.

As of 2016, he developed a keen interest within HR focused roles dealing with the whole spectrum from strategic to operational HR including: employee relations, compensation and benefits, succession planning and recruitment.

At the start of 2020, Saud joined InterSearch/Talent Development bringing his vast HR experience to specialize in recruitment sector focusing on identifying junior to C-suite talent for clients in various industries such as: O&G, Banking, Investments, Energy and Manufacturing.

Saud holds a Bachelors of BA in Tourism from Majan College and is currently pursuing his CIPD level 5 degree.

Malak Al Zarafy

Research Associate

Malak is a recent graduate from Birmingham City University with a bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management. Her interest in furthering her studies within Human Resources was due to the “Human” aspect. With being intrigued with the social side of a business, more specifically diversity and inclusion. What sparked her interest, was due to having a diverse upbringing with growing up in Japan. She was, exposed to a rich, diverse cultural background, that impacted her in a positive way. Thus, encouraged her to be exposed in understanding and interact socially from induvial who come from various of backgrounds.

Throughout her degree, as well as internships, she has obtained a solid foundation skill set that enables her to quickly adapt and contribute to the work force environment.

In 2021, Malak had joined Talent Development / InterSearch to aim to specialize within the recruitment sector, to hone on her skills to focus on identifying candidates that are C-suit Level position for clients from across the industries and region.

Bethan Hurst-haynes

Executive Assistant & Office Manager

Beth brings over 10 years Administration experience to our team, in her capacity as Executive Assistant. Primarily supporting our Managing Director, she also takes care of our Regional teams and manages our Dubai office. With previous roles in Automotive, Real Estate and Oil & Gas, she has a diverse and well-rounded skillset making her adept at taking on new challenges, managing complex and conflicting priorities. When not keeping Samantha on track, Beth enjoys spending time with her husband Barry, and their rescue dog Bean. She is a committed foodie and is always looking for new recipes and restaurants to try!