Page Category: Leadership

2016 - InterSearch operates in 53 countries

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

Daniel Robinson

Managing Partner

Kinda Fakhouri

Regional Head of Research - Middle East

Donna Agustin

Regional Finance Manager

Veronika Nogovitsina

Consultant UAE

Hurriya Mirza

Consultant Oman & Operations Manager

Dimitris Petikas

Consultant

Ciara Cain

Engagement Manager

George Varghese

Engagement Manager

Malak Al Zarafy

Research Associate

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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.

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

Veronika Nogovitsina

Consultant UAE

Veronika started her professional career in 2010 initially in Supply Chain Management (SCM) and moved immediately to HR Management with Procter & Gamble (P&G) responsible for the talent supply strategy across multiple markets in Corporate & Production of five factories.

Veronika joined InterSearch almost 10 years ago to further develop her strategic talent aspirations across multiple industries. She soon became the Practice Group Leader for Finance, Retail, Consumer Goods, Healthcare & FinTech. She recently relocated to Dubai to join InterSearch Middle East to build the Start-up, Scale-up, Venture Capital & Innovation.

Veronika is bi-lingual and enjoys servicing her clients across multiple sectors in emerging markets. She is Certified as an Emotional Intelligence Assessor by the British TEIQ institute (2019). Veronika graduated from one of the most prestigious Universities, the Higher School of Economics, and passed courses within INSEAD MBA in Singapore.

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.

Dimitris Petikas

Consultant

Dimitris specializes in Health Care, Life Sciences, Academic, Media & Technology and brings a wealth of international experience to our team.

Prior to joining InterSearch Middle East, he held top management positions in blue-chip corporations including, Emirates Integrated Telecommunications-du,

Vodafone, Allianz Group of Insurance Companies, Hellenic Telecommunications Group-COSMOTE, Telekom Romania, Piraeus Bank Romania and Shell Petroleum & Chemicals.

He has also served as Founder & Managing Director in various start-ups, focusing on the simplicity of business life, through digital innovation and lean management.

Dimitris is a true strategic achiever with a consistent track record, leading companies with complex challenges to new heights of revenue and market success.

He was also able to dive in quickly, headed change, and equipped companies with sustainable growth strategies, for enduring relevance, competitive edge, and market leadership.

Dimitris has lived and worked in Greece, Romania, Germany, London, Ireland and the UAE.

Ciara Cain

Engagement Manager

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

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.

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.

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Page Category: Leadership

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Meet the Team

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