Heriot-Watt University

Head of Executive Education

As the first British university to set up a campus in Dubai in 2005, Heriot-Watt University Dubai has established itself as a pioneer in the higher education market in the UAE. It offers an extensive range of programmes and disciplines, from Foundation all the way up to the Ph.D level. In January 2023 Heriot-Watt University Dubai was granted Initial Institutional Licensure by the UAE’s Ministry of Education through the Commission for Academic Accreditation (CAA). Being granted the License means that our campus is now federally recognised for the high quality of our academic provision, and we have started the accreditation process for our programmes. Heriot-Watt graduates are highly employable and sought after by the best organisations worldwide, with over 90% in graduate level jobs or further study within six months of graduation.

Head of Careers, Alumni & Industry Engagement

City, University of London

City has strong links with the City of London, and the Lord Mayor of London serves as the university's rector. Alumni of City include a Founding Father, members of Parliament of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister's of the United Kingdom, governors, politicians and CEO's. 

In this pivotal regional role, responsible for the entire programmes range of the Dubai Centre - the flagship globally ranked Executive MBA (Bayes Business School, formerly known Cass Business School) and MSc in Aviation. Cross-selling and collaborative aproach by involving all the departments including Executive Education department to raise the profile of the Dubai Centre. 

A leading global University, committed to academic excellence. Bayes Business School is a leading global business school and a constituent part of City, University of London, with 50 years in business education and the world-class faculty. 

In my role I take care of: 

B2C:
- Developing the student recruitment market in the MENA region
- Raising the profile and awareness of Cass and City, University of London (specifically the Dubai Centre) to industry and identifying, building and maintaining successful client relationships in the MENA region
- Pro-actively supporting the Regional Director with planning activities and implementation of new initiatives 

B2B:
- Increasing brand recognition among the business community/partners and public entities including government in the key markets. 
- Encouraging interest in Bayes’ Executive Education offering

Programmes Recruitment Manager (MENA, President’s Office) - Executive MBA, DIFC campus

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ERUDITUS Executive Education

Reported directly to the board and spearheaded Eruditus’ first international expansion by opening the GCC office in Dubai to act as exclusive representative for 5 out of the world’s top 10 ranked business schools (MIT, Wharton, Harvard, INSEAD, Columbia) to launch and sell a portfolio of premier customized (CSP) and open education programs (OEP) for senior executives, large corporate clients and the Government. 
•	   Generated revenue of $3m in 2015 (200% YoY growth from $1m in 2014) from B2C and B2B sales having reached profitability within two years
•	   Achieved 52% win-rate with $1.3m of revenue contribution in 2015 for “custom programs”.  Established proposal pipeline of $2.5m and developed strong B2B partnerships
•	   Organized, delivered and updated four high quality short Executive programs (MIT and Wharton) in Dubai per year with annual revenue contribution of $0.5m and outstanding reviews from candidates and faculty. Negotiated with internal and external suppliers. 
•	   Represented Eruditus as Ambassador with public speaking responsibilities at events and fairs (e.g. speaker at the panel of HR Summit, the host and speaker at in-house HR events) and worked with media (Forbes, Gulf Business, Arabian Business)
•	  Handled all operational activities i.e. Marketing, Communications, Legal, Human Resource, Finance
•	  Formulated and implemented strategy: effective budget allocation and operational planning, GCC programs portfolio design, offline & online marketing plan development and execution
•	   Led team of 5 reports to manage sales cycle to generate new business: capturing of prospects, face to face visits, identification of learning gaps, design of proposals including program logistics, closing of clients and delivery of programs.
•	   Grew brand equity and trust for Eruditus as exclusive representative 
•	   Recruited staff, coached and developed an executive team to enable fast paced growth

General Manager - MENA (Harvard, MIT, Wharton, Columbia)

Hult International Business School

Headed up a multicultural sales team of 6 direct and 2 indirect reports with focus on selling top-ranked Executive MBA program to senior business leaders and company owners 

•	Led team to grow revenue YoY by 30% to USD 12.9m in 2013;  tracking at 26% saving versus allocated scholarship budget
•	Managed annual sales budget and marketing plan (online marketing, events, fairs)
•	Executed acquisition of new lead sources and organization of events
•	Interacted with clients on closing calls or face to face at fairs/events 
•	Staffed and developed team members through coaching and delegation
•	Developed management reports and statistical analysis from SalesForce
•	Anticipated sales issues and drove implementation of solutions with senior management

•	Directed team to grow revenue YoY by 31% to USD 9.9m and operate within allocated scholarship budget; individually contributed 20% of revenue 
•	Guided implementation of best practices from European office and facilitated IT system transition to SalesForce

Director of Sales (Recruiting) and Marketing, Executive MBA

Supervised a team of 3 direct reports with responsibility for selling Master programs for candidates  in Eastern Europe and German speaking countries to our five global locations in Boston, San Francisco, London, Dubai and Shanghai. 

•	Delivered annual target to grow revenue YoY by 40% to EUR 2.5m by optimizing activities around Sales, Marketing and Customer Relationship Management
•	Managed budget and staffing for Associate Director for Germany and Switzerland
•	Developed promotional strategies to increase Hult’s visibility via offline and online marketing
•	Represented Hult at fairs and fulfilled speaker responsibilities e.g. Model of United Nations 
•       Established co-operations with educational institutions and exploring new business opportunities with key market players
•       Oversaw execution of hands-on Customer Relationship Management and consultative approach to deliver one of Hult’s unique selling propositions

Director of Sales (Recruiting) Europe

Managed sales and marketing of Master programs ranked by Financial Times from Eastern Europe, Portugal, Switzerland and Belgium. 

•	Awarded Top Global Recruiter for delivering 175% of target by generating revenue of  EUR 1.1m whilst maximizing profitability by saving 39% of allocated scholarship budget
•	Supervised two recruitment co-ordinators and led global recruitment process for Master and MBA candidates through consultative sales approach
•       Aimed to significantly increase Hult’s visibility in the regions while offering the five Global campuses in London, Boston, San Francisco Dubai and Shanghai.

Hult International Business School takes its origin from Arthur D. Little international management consulting firm, founded in 1886 by Arthur Dehon Little. Arthur D. Little is the world's first management consulting services firm and defined itself as a pioneer and industry leader from the 1880s right through to the 2000s.

Associate Director of Sales (Recruiting) Europe

PHILIPS

Managed promotion of €26.4m business with a €3m budget and liaised closely with Sales, Trade Marketing, Logistics and global agencies, such as GfK Group, Carat and DDB UK. 

•	Grew sales by 8.3% and internal gross margin by 2% (2008 vs. 2007)
•	Increased market share by 4.6% to 27.2% making Philips market leader (2008 vs. 2007)
•	Monitored sales, profit margins, market share, competitor activities and reported quarterly results to Marketing Director, HQ and Sales.
•	Adapted and implemented marketing, pricing, portfolio and merchandising strategies
•	Led complete product launch cycle: product presentations, retailer negotiations, demand planning, ordering and store launch
•	Supervised external agencies and internal teams to deliver above- and below-the-line advertising, public relations, marketing communications and trade marketing programs 
•	Participated in consumer research e.g. focus groups, consumer visits and workshops
•	Analyzed brand health performance through Heartbeat, Net Promoter Score and GfK studies
•	Rolled out and adapted European version of nationwide TV campaign “Second Skin”


PHILIPS is one of the largest electronics companies in the world.  It employs 123,800 people in more than 60 countries.

Customer Marketing Manager

Direct report to Marketing Director, with remit to manage €3m budget for €35m business.

•	Established the ‘Look Hot Every Day’ communication platform 
•	Launched Azur (high end) product range nationwide with a multi channel campaign (TV, print and online media) and led complete development process for POS materials
•	Oversaw implementation of the Mega Mall Project sponsorship in five Russian cities
•	Presented sales figures, developed growth and marketing plans, and planned annual budgets 
•	Liaised with agencies, negotiated with clients and participated in dealer conferences

Customer Marketing Officer

•	Organised Philips’ representation at Moscow’s “Millionaire Fair 2006” with a €100k budget 
•	Led “Gift Package” consumer promotion campaign in eleven Russian cities, TV/print brand campaign and SMS lottery for electric shavers

Marketing Trainee

Ivy-League educated senior executive with 18 years of global multi-faceted commercial and team leadership experience (MENA, UK, Europe and Russia), based in Dubai for the past 14 years. 

Featured in the Power Issue of Emirates Women in 2020 and Harper’s Bazaar Middle East. 

Volunteering by leading the Columbia Business School’s UAE association and co-leading EurAsia Gulf provides me with the opportunity to make a positive impact on the community. 

Extensive international student recruitment (Executive MBA) and executive education, marketing and media campaigns, BD (B2C, B2B and B2G) expertise acquired across emerging and established markets whilst generating multi-million dollar revenue for global brands or start-ups. Strong and proven experience in consultative sales roles with leading brands and excellent hands-on knowledge of the higher education sector. 

14 years in regional leadership roles holding P&L accountability and in education management working with top American and UK business schools. 

- Keynote Speaker at the 2nd UAE IAA Conference under the patronage of H.E. Sarah bint Yousif Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Technology on "Digitizing your professional future", 2021
- Panellist at the INBUSH WORLD SUMMIT 2021 on “Embracing & Leading Change: Challenges & Strategies to Reinvent and Innovate”, 2021
- Panellist at the Athena 40 Forum on "Nurturing Innovative Minds in partnership with Montessori Group", 2020
- Panellist at the HR Summit 2015 on “Understanding executive coaching and its role in developing national leaders in the UAE”, 2015

- Fluent in 3 languages and learning Arabic and Mandarin (Pre-Intermediate level B1, Emirati Arabic A1 level, Mandarin A0 level) 

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