The foundation stone of your company’s future is the capstone of its leadership team, your Board.
Let us help you seek and seed leaders across your organization.
Create a sustainable
competitive advantage.
We will move your Talent Acquisition department from an operational function to a strategic function.
Your recruitment function is one of your greatest customer touchpoints.
Your candidates are customers.
Carl Phillips is a Certified Management Consultant with over 40 years’ experience identifying and placing the right CEOs and leaders to elevate organizations. He has created several assessment instruments and tests on leadership and effectively passed said learnings on throughout The Phillips Group, giving it today’s edge within the search market. Phillips is an active chairman across the group providing on-going expertise, market knowledge and relationships.
Phillips has been the Head of Global Organization Effectiveness for Watson Wyatt Worldwide, which is now called Willis Towers Watson, one of the largest management consulting companies in the world, with over 14,000 employees. He has been a keynote speaker in several international conferences on leadership and has written several articles on “The True Job Description of the CEO”, a unique insight into the critical force in an organisation. Phillips authored the book “Winners Are Not Lonely At The Top” and co-authored a book called “Global Literacies”.
Shane Phillips is the CEO of The Phillips Group and specialises in Board and CEO placement. With over 15 years’ experience, Phillips is an expert in working with Boards and CEOs to help them transform their business, realise their vision and achieve their organisational objectives. Phillips’ focus is on sound human capital management practices and strategic hiring. He is a board member at Ownmycareer.com, the online career management site, and is also a Board Member at Digital Analytica, the digital transformation company.
Phillips has an undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of British Columbia and an MBA from the London Business School. He also authored the books “CEO Assessment & Selection” and “Get Your Dream Job”.
Dr Krisztina Phillips has hands-on experience and unrivalled insights into the medical field. This enables her to provide expert advice on specialised Doctor and Medical Leadership appointments and deliver best-in-class medical talent to her clients; from CEOs of a hospital to the Chief Medical Officer driving quality of patient care results.
Dr Phillips completed her medical degree at the Semmelweis University Faculty of General Medicine in Budapest and earned her specialisation exams through accredited medical training in Budapest. She completed her residency in Budapest in the Dermatology Department of the Szent István Hospital, the Dermatology Department of the Honvéd Hospital, the Semmelweis University Dermatology Clinic and the Dermatology Department of the Pál Heim Pediatric Hospital.
Craig Marek is a healthcare specialist with extensive leadership experience in emergency medical care, crisis management, first responder teams and other healthcare-related fields. Marek’s expertise allows him to provide expert advice and insights on key projects within the healthcare field. Throughout his career, Marek has led teams that included the third largest emergency call coverage area in North America. He has been renowned for his work in Ambulance and Emergency Care work and has been involved in setting standards, auditing, and reviewing emergency response teams across the nation.
Marek has been recognized for his work to drive international legislation to allow for transnational collaboration and cross border emergency services to integrate effectively across Canada and the United States of America. Previously, Marek was the Chair of the Minnesota/Ontario Cross Border Interoperability Committee.
Ziad Makhzoumi is a leading strategy and restructuring expert who has helped many businesses and business leaders achieve their objectives in a structured, wholesome, inclusive approach that aligns all the stakeholders’ aims, and operates within the resources available to achieve long term positive measurable outcomes. His strategy, leadership coaching and restructuring approach is direct, practical and engaging, and ensures that critical changes needed in this dynamic business environment, happen effectively.
Ziad Makhzoumi is a known public speaker and author and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Business and Finance both from Manchester University, UK. He started his career with Booz Allen & Hamilton Inc, the global management consultants. He has held various executive senior positions over the years and started many successful businesses globally.
Because of his outstanding achievements over the last decade in various sectors, Ziad Makhzoumi was voted in 2009 as The Revolutionary CFO of the Year, and for Excellence in Finance in 2010, and as the Most Admired CFO in the Middle East in 2011. Wall Street Journal listed him in 2010 among the top 20 most influential non-royal decision makers in the UAE. Arabian Business listed him in 2012 among the top 500 most influential Arabs in the world and in 2013 and 2014 among the top 50 influential Brits in the UAE. He was awarded the Middle East CEO of the year in the Healthcare Sector 2014 by CEO Middle East magazine.
Fatme Khalife Al Kharusi provides guidance in behavioral & personality assessment, face profiling, micro-expressions, leadership coaching and consumer insight using her unique expertise as a Professor of Morphopsychology. She helps people understand themselves, bringing self-awareness, understanding human behavior & guiding people.
She strongly believes in personal growth, inviting leaders to bring their whole selves to work, putting passion into their purpose and constantly seeking to understand themselves and how others think, act and make decisions.
Fatme is currently a senior consultant for Oman Investment Authority, Khimji Ramdas, Martin Lindstrom Company, and Executive Coach in BTS Consulting. She is a key advisor to executive recruitment processes, negotiation, team building, conflict resolution, coaching, and leading innovative transformation initiatives. She helps companies find the right people for the right positions, assemble a strong management team, and succeed across countries and cultures. Clients also value her insights and experience in perfecting strategies and creating a diversity agenda as a prerequisite for enhancing their performance. As well as advising renowned brand guru Martin Lindstrom on understanding the psychology of the consumer, what people look for in a brand, the reason behind their decision & how to build customer loyalty. In addition, she analyzes socio-cultural backgrounds and assesses the right approach to negotiate contracts. Prior to that, she had accumulated HR experience in the Banking, Publishing and Consulting sectors.
Fatme earned a Professorate in Morphopsychology from the University of Paris and a double Master’s from the Sorbonne in Political Sciences & Philosophy. She is a certified Hogan Assessor & Micro expression detecting deception.
Peter Baker is the Group Chief Human Resources Officer at First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB). Peter has the responsibility for driving the Group’s people and culture journey to ensure the HR function delivers for our people today and prepares them for what is next at FAB.
Peter has 25 years of experience in Human Resources, Sales and Marketing roles at Procter & Gamble and Maersk Group. Before joining FAB, he served as the Chief Human Resources Officer for Damco, a world leader in logistics and supply chain management, with a presence in over 80 countries.
He has vast experience across Asia Pacific, USA and EMEA having lived in Singapore, Netherlands and Denmark.
Peter holds a bachelor’s degree in Business from the University of Technology, Sydney
Lamees Al Bahrana provides guidance and expert insight to all Chief Risk Officer, Chief Credit Officer and Risk restructuring efforts through her wealth of experience. Formerly, Al Bahrana was the Chief Risk Officer for Oman Arab Bank, where she advised the Board of directors and led the Bank’s enterprise-wide risk strategy through digital transformation. Al Bahrana enhanced frameworks to cover emerging risks, implemented cybersecurity solutions and improved operational resilience while sustaining growth and customer-centricity. She also has experience working with global brands such as Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch.
During Al Baharna tenure as Head of Risk Management at Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company in the Kingdom of Bahrain, she formulated and implemented best-in-class Enterprise Risk Management and corporate governance frameworks for both its direct investments and liquid portfolios for the sovereign wealth fund of Bahrain. Al Baharna is a CFA holder and completed her Bachelors in Chemical Engineering from McGill University in Canada.
Nasser Zagha has over 22 years of experience in corporate digital transformation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, ERP/CRM, EDMS implementation, software development, architecture and automation. Zagha is the Founder of Digital Analytica, a joint venture with The Phillips Group. He has completed over 100 Software/System development life cycles and is an expert in software performance process improvement, data management (Big Data) and data science.
He became a .com entrepreneur in 1998 when Zagha started BestURL based in Silicon Valley. The business serviced Fortune 100 companies across the United States of America. Zagha also held positions as Vice President of Technology at the Bank of America for five years, then Chief Information Officer with Bank of Jordan. Zagha holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Computer Engineering from California State University and an MBA from Oxford Brookes University.
With over 25 years of banking experience, Akbar Kazmi brings the seasoned eye that only experience can foster. He was mentored in global best practices from brands such as Standard Chartered Bank. Having spent the majority of his career in the GCC, Kazmi has an intuitive understanding of the subtle yet powerful undercurrents in the region.
Throughout his career, Kazmi chartered numerous positions in the banking industry, including Corporate, Institutional and Private Banking. He was the former Deputy Head of Risk for the National Bank of Dubai where Kazmi developed Risk frameworks, processes and methodologies. More recently, Kazmi assisted in overhauling Credit Risk Assessment practices at Commercial Bank International, resulting in a significant reduction in NPA’s at the Bank. Kazmi is an active teacher and guest speaker at the Emirates Institute for Banks and Financial Studies where he regularly delivers training sessions to mid and senior-level bankers.
Iulian Gamurari is specialised in the Executive Search industry in Europe and the Middle East. He has successfully delivered numerous C and C-1 level talent to large conglomerates across the GCC within Private Equity, Banking, Healthcare, Hospitality, Real Estate, Automotive, FMCG and Education industries. Prior to joining The Phillips Group in Dubai, Gamurari worked with Pedersen & Partners, a leading multinational ES firm, where he gained broad exposure from search execution to sourcing team management.
Gamurari has placed multiple C-level positions across a litany of industries, recently including; the CEO of FMCG Distribution at a Large Family Office in Saudi Arabia, Group CFO for a Large Family Office in Lebanon and Chief Executive Officer of a Large Mall Operator in Saudi Arabia. He has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Bolyai University, Romania, and speaks fluent Romanian, English and Russian. Gamurari can also speak Spanish and Italian.
Samar Debs is a seasoned executive search Consultant with over 14 years work experience and a proven track record. Debs has delivered C-level roles across a broad range of industries serving leading regional conglomerates, complemented by established multinational clients. She is a results-driven executive search consultant, who places high emphasis on integrity, transparency and attention to detail. Debs’ genuine interest in people and impeccable time management makes her a valuable consultant.
Through the years, Deb’s focus has been on executive searches primarily focusing on senior-level assignments across industries within the EMEA region. She has worked for leading multinational firms as well as local search firms and is recognised for her ability to lead high-performance research teams. Debs graduated from the Business and Computer University of Lebanon with a Masters in Management and a B.Sc. in Computer Science.
Simbria started her career with The Phillips Group in 2015 and has worked with numerous multinational and large family groups during her tenure. Simbria’s focus has been on helping client find the best senior executives across a broad range of industries, including; financial services, hospitality and real estate.
She is a member of the Red Cross, Dubai Cares and supports United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Touseef Manna has over ten years of talent acquisition and RPO experience from both working as an Executive Search Consultant as well as an in-house corporate recruiter.
Prior to joining The Phillips Group, Manna placed mid to senior level and C-suite roles in several industries, including; oil & gas, services sector, entertainment, real estate and the BPO industry across the UAE, India and Saudi Arabia. Manna holds a MBA in Human Resource Management from the University of Mysore, India, and a CHRP certification from the American Institute of Certification in Dubai.
Anthony Choueiry has over 12 years’ experience in insurance and executive search. He is a results-driven expert who excels at building and sustaining long-term relationships with key stakeholders through his keen ability to optimize performance and achieve the desired results.
Previously Choueiry worked with major local, regional and international insurance brands such as LIA Insurance, Bankers Insurance, Allianz and Metlife. He lifted the sales conversion ratio from 7% to 20% in an eight-month period which reflected directly in net profit. Choueiry holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from USEK, Lebanon, and is a Neuro-Linguistic Programming practitioner.
Angelo Mathews has over 14 years experience with a background in broadcasting and business journalism. Mathews is a talented creative director, video editor, producer and videographer. His exceptional work ethic, ambitious spirit, resourcefulness and passion for advocating his point of view makes him an invaluable member of the team. Mathews produces TPG’s invaluable online business tools and supports the effective sharing of said tools with relevant clients and candidates.
Mathews has a BA degree from St. Xavier’s College, India. Prior to joining TPG, he was running his own Media Production Company in Mumbai, India which he started after working at CNBC India as Executive Producer for over six years.