Management

Ahmed Galal Ismail was appointed as CEO of Majid Al Futtaim Properties in November 2018. He was the CEO ofMajid Al Futtaim Ventures for 10 years overseeing seven business verticals including fashion retail, leisure and entertainment, cinemas, financial services and facilities management. Mr Ismail first joined Majid Al Futtaim Group in January 2007 as Vice President of Strategy. Prior to that, he was a principal with Booz Allen Hamilton in Dubai having started his career with Procter and Gamble in Egypt and then Germany. Mr Ismail holds an MBA with distinction from London Business School and a B.Sc. in computer science from the American University in Cairo.

Ahmed El Shamy is the Chief Financial Officer of Majid Al Futtaim Properties, responsible for the financial health and risk and compliance practices of the business unit. In his previous role as financial consultant to our Communities business interests in Egypt, Ahmed has built a solid understanding of our operations and aspirations.

Prior to working with Majid Al Futtaim, Ahmed worked as a partner and Group Chief Financial Officer for Qalaa Holdings, one of the world largest Arab Private Equity where he led the restructuring and development of a number of the firm’s business interests.

Specialising in transformation and turnaround operations, Ahmed’s last role was as Board Member and Head of M&A for Misr, a leading MENA glass manufacturer. Previous to this he was Group Chief Financial Officer for Orascom Development Holding, a publically listed leading developer of fully integrated destinations including hotels, villas and apartments across the Middle East and Europe.

Shireen El Khatib is the Chief Executive Officer of Majid Al Futtaim – Shopping Malls and leads a portfolio of 26 shopping malls across the Middle East and North Africa. In her role as Chief Executive, Ms El Khatib leverages her 25 years of expertise in building strong management teams, healthy organisational cultures, and robust partnerships with global brands. 

Prior to assuming this position, Ms El Khatib served as Chief Executive Officer of Majid Al Futtaim - Fashion and played an instrumental role in developing customer-centric retail concepts and driving operational excellence. Under her leadership, Majid Al Futtaim – Fashion revamped its portfolio of fashion and lifestyle brands and developed a successful expansion strategy into high growth markets across the region.

Ms El Khatib was the Chief Executive Officer of Al Tayer Insignia, the luxury arm of the Al Tayer Group. In this role, she was the driving force behind building a strong retail portfolio of leading luxury fashion and jewellery brands across the region, and the international expansion of UK and US-based luxury department stores, Harvey Nichols and Bloomingdales, into Dubai. 

In 2008, Ms El Khatib was named by TIME magazine as one of 10 women who revolutionized luxury globally.

Viviana Alberu joined Majid Al Futtaim Holding as Head of Human Capital to lead the Transformation Office. Viviana comes from McKinsey’s Dubai office, where she was in charge of professional development and regional consultant staffing. She holds an MBA from Indiana University Kelley School of Business.After beginning her career with McKinsey in Caracas, Venezuela, Viviana was promoted to head of the Corporate Planning Department, a position she also undertook with Venezuela’s leading food and beverage company. At Majid Al Futtaim, Viviana’s key role is to take charge of planning, developing and embedding a performance-driven culture across the organisation.

Hawazen Esber was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of Communities in October 2015, from his previous position as CEO of Oman’s largest waterfront destination development, Al Mouj Muscat. Hawazen has also held several positions with Majid Al Futtaim, including Residential Development Director and Board Member of Sharjah Holding.In addition to his service at Majid Al Futtaim, Hawazen is the former CEO at Syrian development company Bena Properties and the former Vice President at AIG Global Real Estate. With two decades of experience in management and property development across the Middle East and North Africa, Hawazen offers his expertise in hospitality, master-planned communities, and mixed-use projects to lead the Majid Al Futtaim Communities Business Unit to success.

Khalifa Bin Braik is the Managing Director of Hotels at Majid Al Futtaim Properties, leading the business unit’s growth strategy across the entire portfolio of existing assets and new developments. Mr. Bin Braik is responsible for portfolio performance and expansion in alignment with Majid Al Futtaim’s vision of developing integrated lifestyle destinations.

Mr. Bin Braik has over 15 years of Real Estate and Hospitality leadership experience in various organisations. Starting his career with Dubai Holding, he joined Majid Al Futtaim - Properties in 2014 from Sharjah Holding as a Director in the Shopping Malls Business Unit and soon after was appointed as Head of Asset Management for the Hotels Business Unit. In his last role, Khalifa was responsible for optimising the operating and financial performance of the entire portfolio of Majid Al Futtaim Hotels, as well as building robust relationships with our international hotel partners.

Mr. Bin Braik Holds a Masters in financial economics from Boston University and a B.Sc. in Economics from Northeastern University.

Khaled brings with him more than 23 years of experience in project management, engineering, construction, commissioning and contract acquisitions. Prior to joining, he worked at the multi-million dollar company KBR where he last served as President of KBR Middle East and North Africa. He has also served as a Board Member and Treasurer for the American Business Association in Saudi Arabia.

Roberta Calarese is Chief Legal Officer of Majid Al Futtaim Properties. In her current role, Roberta is responsible for all legal matters including advising the Board of Directors and CEO on legal and reputational risks, contributing to the setting and implementation of strategy for the company and driving the legal risks agenda.

Roberta joined Majid Al Futtaim in 2015 as Chief Legal Officer, Majid Al Futtaim Holding and quickly established her position as a strong business partner and role model for the company’s leadership attributes.

Prior to joining Majid Al Futtaim, Roberta was Chief Legal Officer and Executive Committee Member at Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Authority. During her twelve-year tenure at DIFC, Roberta held a number of other positions including Secretary General of the Board of Directors of DIFC Authority and DIFC Investments, Chairwoman of the Legislative Committee, Data Protection Commissioner, and Director Policy and Legal Services of the Dubai Financial Services Authority.

Roberta is currently the Vice President of the board of directors of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in the UAE and board member of the UAE Tennis Federation

As Country Head of Levant, Waddah represents Majid Al Futtaim Properties in the Levant in areas concerning financial government and regulatory affairs. Prior to joining, Waddah founded and managed Projective Development Group Inc. and he also worked as Construction Manager for the Broadway Plaza Apartment at the Chaarani-Khan Construction Division in the USA.

Waddah El Solh is Country Head of Levant. He has held this position since 1999. In his role, Waddah represents Majid Al Futtaim Properties in the Levant in areas concerning financial, government and regulatory affairs.

Prior to joining Majid Al Futtaim Properties, Waddah founded Projective Development Group Inc. and managed the company’s construction activities and legal obligations for both private and public sector projects. He also worked as Construction Manager for the Broadway Plaza Apartment at Chaarani-Khan Construction Division in USA.

Waddah holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from California State University, United States, and was awarded the Engineer-in-Training Certification from the California State Licensing Examination Board.

Khaled Al Ajmi is the Country Head for Majid Al Futtaim Properties for Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Bahrain, State of Qatar and State of Kuwait. As such, he acts as the leading representative of the company in these countries, identifying potential business opportunities, ensuring that projects proceed smoothly through a constantly evolving network of the authorities and local contacts. He also serves as Chairman of Aswaq Al Emarat (Mall of Saudi), Chairman of Majid Al Futtaim Proprieties Bahrain B.S.C, Chairman of AYA Project in Bahrain and Chairman of KSA Sustainability Committee.

Mr. Khaled Al Ajmi joined Majid Al Futtaim in 2007. Prior to joining Majid Al Futtaim, he held several Executive positions in Diplomatic organizations and international foundations. He also serves as Board member and advisor in several Charity Organisations and Government Committees.

Talib Omar is the Country Head, Oman for Majid Al Futtaim Properties. As such, he acts as the leading representative of the company in Oman, identifying potential business opportunities, ensuring that projects proceed smoothly through a constantly evolving network of local contacts. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Almouj project, Muscat. Mr. Omar joined Majid Al Futtaim in 2001 as Administration and Personnel Manager for Carrefour and also held the position of General Manager of Business Development from 2005 to 2007.

Prior to joining Majid Al Futtaim, Mr. Omar was Administration and Personnel Manager at Target LLC in Oman. Mr. Omar has also held the positions of Director of H.E. the Secretary General’s Office of University Council and Director of Public Relations at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman.

He was Member of Parliament in Oman from 2003 to 2007, holding the position of Deputy Chairman for the Economic Committee. He was also a Member of Omanisation Committee, part of Ministry of Manpower, a Member of the National Product Committee, part of the Chamber of Commerce, and an ex- Board Member of the Omani Economic Association.

Mr. Omar has a Masters degree in International Economics from Johns Hopkins University, USA.

Hani Weiss is Chief Executive Officer of 
Majid Al Futtaim – Retail, the exclusive franchisee to operate Carrefour in 31 countries across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. 

Mr. Weiss is responsible for developing and growing the company’s Carrefour franchise business, and establish market leadership across all countries it operates in through exceptional customer centricity and a strong omnichannel offering. This includes reimaging the stores of the future and the execution of a digital transformation.

Hani began his career at Majid Al Futtaim - Retail in 2001 and his lengthy experience within the operation, and unparalleled understanding of the food retail business saw him promoted to Chief Executive Officer in September 2017. Today, Hani leads a business of 37,000 colleagues, operates over 290 Carrefour stores across 15 countries in the region, and serves more than 750,000 customers a day.  

Hani holds an Executive MBA from the London School of Business (Dubai campus) and has completed the Senior Executive Development programme at HEC Paris. 

A results-driven expert with over 20 years of finance experience, predominantly in the retail sector, Rahul Bhandari oversees the finance functions for the company across all markets in which it operates in. He provides strategic input in all M&A opportunities, develops streamlined business operations to maximize efficiency and growth prospects, and since his appointment, has led a cost, process and tax optimization exercise that has saved the company over AED 200 million.

Mr. Bhandari joined Majid Al Futtaim Retail in 2006 as a General Manager responsible for accounting control, consolidation and taxation, before being promoted to Vice President of Finance in 2014, and eventually taking up the CFO role in 2017.

Prior to that, he spent 6 years at KPMG UAE and began his career in advisory and management consultancies in India.

Mr. Bhandari is a rank holder certified Chartered Accountant by The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Mustafa El Rafey is the Senior Vice President of Human Capital at Majid Al Futtaim Retail. His role oversees the development and implementation of the human capital (HC) strategies, policies and procedures across the markets in which the company operates. Mr. El Rafey also provides strategic direction in developing human capital systems to build a strong physical and digital retail organization, creating an employer brand that attracts, grows, and retains the best talent in the region.

Mr. El Rafey has 30 years of international multi-industry experience in sales, marketing, general management, strategic and operational HC, talent management and organization transformation. He worked for Mars Incorporated in the United Kingdom, Starbucks in Seattle, QVC and Cognosante in Virginia.

Mr. El Rafey holds both a Bachelor of Science with Honours Degree in Computer Science and a postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies from the University of Westminster in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Younis Al Mulla’s scope includes setting and driving the company’s expansion strategy across existing and new markets, building relationships with relevant government officials and leading asset development and delivery. Notable achievements include almost tripling Majid Al Futtaim’s store count in 5 years, entering new territories including CIS and East Africa, and developing the award winning Carrefour Regional Distribution Centre, the first of its kind in the Middle East.

Prior to joining Majid Al Futtaim, Mr. Al Mulla served at Dubai Police for 12 years, and 6 years at Dubai Ports and Customs Authority and Free Zone Corporation. He joined the company in 2001.

Mr. Al Mulla is the current Chairman of the Middle East Council of Shopping Centres and Retail, and sits on the boards of the UAE Food Bank and the Emirates Down Syndrome Association.
 
Mr. Al Mulla holds a BA degree in Business Management from Ain Shams University in Egypt and a MBA from Northampton University in the UK.

In addition to his duties at Majid Al Futtaim Retail, Mohammed is also a member of the Majid Al Futtaim Charity Foundation, the Chairman of Bab Al Madeena in Yemen and a member of the Yankit board in Oman. He joined us in 2005 from the Ministry of Labour & Social Affairs in the UAE where he served as the Undersecretary of Ministry of Labour.

Mohamed Al Assaf’s key roles are in driving and managing the overall operations of the Corporate Development and overseeing the progress of different initiatives through the Transformation Office. He is responsible for providing leadership and strategic direction for the company’s corporate strategy and planning function by recommending and pursuing business opportunities for growth, strategic alliances, business partnerships as well as mergers and acquisitions.

Mr. Al Assaf also leads the Transformation Office that manages and monitors the delivery of major integration projects and programs including running a Project Management Office in collaboration with internal and external stakeholders.

Mr. Al Assaf began his career at Majid Al Futtaim in 1999 and took on his current role in 2017. 

Mohamed holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Princess Sumaya University for Technology in Jordan, and Masters of Business Administration from University of Leicester in UK.

With 24 years of working for Carrefour across Spain, Argentina and China, Miguel brings invaluable experience to Majid Al Futtaim Retail in UAE. His previous positions with the retail giant include National Manager Supply Chain, General Manager Merchandise, Textile, and Vice President Merchandise, Non Food.

Holder of a PhD and a MBA in Management and Administration, Herve is also currently a board member of the French University of Egypt and the Egypt Food Export Council, a member of the board of trustees of the Arab Institute for Trade and Commodities Exchange, as well as the Co-President of the French Chamber of Commerce in Egypt.

Currently overseeing the Levant, Xavier has enjoyed more that 31 years of extensive retail experience across Europe, Hong Kong and the UAE. His previous positions include Chief Operating Officer of Carrefour in Bulgaria, Chief Financial Officer of Carrefour Asia, and Chief Executive Officer of Mosemart in the Ukraine.

Based in Georgia, Marc currently oversees five countries including Pakistan, Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. This MBA graduate brings with him over 38 years of retail experience, including holding the position of Director of Hard Goods and Appliances for Carrefour Head Office.

Mark Aylwin is responsible for leading Carrefour Business, Majid Al Futtaim Retail’s business-to-business, one-stop-shop service that provides food and non-food products for the HORECA industry and other businesses.

In this role, Mr. Aylwin devises and delivers a multi-channel strategy for the business-to-business sector, leveraging the company’s scale, network and supply chain capabilities.

With more than 35 years of experience under his belt, Mr. Aylwin has a deep understanding of the Retail and Wholesale industry. Starting out as a Supply Chain Director at Safeway Stores UK, he has held a number of positions during his extensive career, including CEO of Bluehealth Plc and Managing Director at Booker Direct, where he led the development of Booker’s Delivered wholesale business.

Prior to joining Majid Al Futtaim Retail, Mr. Aylwin was Managing Director at Matthew Clark and Bibendum.

Mark Aylwin holds an Executive MBA from Kingston Business School.

Dana Khoury is the Acting SVP of Communications and Marketing at Majid Al Futtaim Retail. In her role, she leads the brand marketing, customer experience, loyalty and corporate reputation function for
Majid Al Futtaim Retail to ensure consistency and synergy across operational markets.

Ms. Khoury brings over 20 years of experience to the business from the FMCG industry across the Middle East & Africa region. She joined the company from PepsiCo, based in Dubai, and held the post of Director of Brand and Channel Marketing. With a clear strategic mindset and goal-oriented personality, Ms. Khoury has led the development and execution of several successful strategies which led to her current role appointment at Majid Al Futtaim having joined as VP of Marketing in September 2018.

Dana Khoury holds a Masters of Business Administration from the American University of Beirut.

Jelena Brajovic is the Vice President of Food Services at Majid Al Futtaim Retail, leading the establishment of the Food Services department, a new venture for the company which includes services such as Food2Go, catering and the central kitchen operations. She oversees and develops strategies revolving around ready-to-go meals and helps develop concepts in the company’s food delivery options.

Ms. Brajovic brings more than 20 years of experience from the food, retail, real estate, and fashion industries with a focus on sales, marketing and procurement sectors. Most recently, she was the General Manager at Bluefin Trading, a leading sushi producer in the UAE. Before that, Ms. Brajovic was a Home Luxury Buyer at Chalhoub group for Tanagra stores. These roles, among others, have given her the ability to analyze and understand consumer trends and insights and use them to create a successful commercial product. 

Jelena Brajovic holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Belgrade.

Ali Bazeih is responsible for leading the legal function across the company and providing legal expertise in shaping business structure, development, and risk-mitigation strategies that safeguard Majid Al Futtaim Retail’s entities, assets, reputation and organization. 

Mr. Bazeih joined Majid Al Futtaim in July 2008 as Senior Legal Counsel, before being promoted to a number of positions, most recently VP Legal in 2014, which saw him take on the responsibility for a wide scope of legal activities across the company’s operating countries before being tasked with his current acting role. 

Mr. Bazeih has 20 years of experience in private practice, particularly counselling governmental entities. Before joining Majid Al Futtaim, Mr. Bazeih conducted legal practice in Lebanon and represented the government in various cases before the Conseil d’État (Council of State). He later evolved his career into in-house legal counseling for the National Ministry of Defense of Lebanon and the Council for Development & Reconstruction. 

Ali Bazeih holds a Ph.D of Law (2005) from Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK) and is a member of the Bar of Beirut (1999).

Khaled El Chidiac was appointed as Acting Chief Executive Officer of Majid Al Futtaim Ventures on November 2018. In this role, Mr El Chidiac is responsible for the development of the group’s capabilities and building world class processes.

Previously, Mr El Chidiac spent over 13 years with General Electric (GE) where he graduated from its premier Finance and Leadership development programs and held various leadership assignments in finance, controllership, internal audit and general management across Europe, the Middle East and the United States. As CFO for GE Corporate in Middle East and Africa, he effectively partnered with the CEO in crafting GE’s expansion strategy in the region and played a critical role in building the finance team and infrastructure.

Mr El Chidiac holds a Masters in Management from the Lyon Business School (EM Lyon) in France and earned his MBA degree from London Business School.

Nasma Abbas’s tenure with Majid Al Futtaim began in 2010 when she joined Majid Al Futtaim Fashion as Head of Human Resources and was appointed in her current role in 2015. Nasma brings more than 20 years of experience in various Human Capital leadership roles, including with Vodafone, IKEA, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Sony Ericsson.

Nasma is responsible for building a world class Human Capital function and developing Majid Al Futtaim Ventures’ capabilities to support and enable planned growth and expansion.

Cameron Mitchell is the Chief Executive Officer of Majid Al Futtaim Cinemas, the owner and operator of the VOX Cinemas brand, the Middle East’s largest cinema exhibitor. VOX Cinema’s operates 12 locations (129 screens) in the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon and Oman, and by 2018, the company will be operating over 400 screens in at least 7 countries. Cameron has worked with Majid Al Futtaim Cinemas since January 2007, and is overseeing the company’s aggressive expansion plans across the MENA region, along with the company’s film distribution business.

Cameron completed a business degree in Australia, majoring in Business Management & Marketing, and brings more than 20 years of experience in the cinema industry to the company.

Rasool Hujair has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Majid Al Futtaim Finance since its inception in 2007. Rasool previously spent twenty years with American Express, managing several different business units across the Middle East, Europe and Africa, with his last role as Regional Director for the GCC and Country Manager of the United Arab Emirates. He also served as CEO of AFS (Arab Financial Services), the region’s leading provider of payments and consumer finance services and was appointed CEO of Euronet Middle East.

With unparalleled expertise in credit, merchant servicing, relationship management, business analytics, customer-experience and operations, Rasool has been an integral part of the growth of Majid Al Futtaim Finance.

With more than 23 years of experience, Murtaza Muhammad, has an extensive knowledge of auditing having provided consultancy services to a variety of industries. He was appointed as Vice President – Internal Audit at Majid Al Futtaim Ventures in 2013 after spending 12 years at Majid Al Futtaim, and is responsible for maintaining a professional and independent audit function at Majid Al Futtaim Ventures. As Internal Audit, Murtaza works independent of the Management and reports directly to the Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee.

Prior to joining the Company, Murtaza worked with KPMG where he was engaged in performing statutory audits and consultancy services for a number of companies within the region. Murtaza is a Chartered Certified Accountant (FCCA), a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) and Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and is currently a member of the UAE Internal Audit Chapter.