Management

Ahmed Galal Ismail is chief executive officer of Majid Al Futtaim Properties. In this role, he is responsible for Majid Al Futtaim’s malls, hotels, communities and project management operations.  

He previously served as CEO of Majid Al Futtaim Ventures for 10 years, overseeing seven business verticals including fashion retail, leisure and entertainment, cinemas, financial services and facilities management. He also served as vice president of strategy. 

Prior to Majid Al Futtaim, Mr Ismail was a principal with Booz Allen Hamilton in Dubai, having started his career with Procter & Gamble in Egypt and then Germany.

He holds an MBA with distinction from the 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 built a solid understanding of our operations and aspirations.

Prior to working with Majid Al Futtaim, Ahmed worked as a partner and group CFO for Qalaa Holdings, one of the Arab world's largest private equity firms, 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 CFO for Orascom Development Holding, a publicly 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 29 shopping malls across the Middle East and North Africa. In this role, Shireen leverages her 25 years of expertise in building management teams, organisational cultures, and partnerships with global brands. 

Shireen previously served as CEO of Majid Al Futtaim Fashion and played a key role in developing customer-centric retail concepts and ensuring operational excellence. Under her leadership, Majid Al Futtaim Fashion revamped its portfolio of fashion and lifestyle brands and expanded into high growth markets across the region. She also led the development of THAT concept store, Majid Al Futtaim’s innovative and heavily curated retail experience at Mall of the Emirates. 

Shireen was earlier chief executive of Al Tayer Insignia, the luxury arm of the Al Tayer Group, where she helped build a portfolio of leading luxury fashion and jewellery brands across the region and was closely involved in the expansion of UK- and US-based luxury department stores Harvey Nichols and Bloomingdales into Dubai. 

In 2008, Shireen was named by TIME magazine as one of 10 women who revolutionised 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's 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 is chief executive officer of Majid Al Futtaim Communities. He is responsible for developing and managing Majid Al Futtaim’s growing portfolio of communities.Today, these communities include Tilal Al Ghaf and Al Zahia in the United Arab Emirates; Waterfront City in Lebanon, and Al Mouj Muscat and Tilal Al Irfan in the Sultanate of Oman. 

Prior to his appointment as CEO in 2015, Hawazen served as CEO of Oman’s largest waterfront destination development, Al Mouj Muscat. He has also held several positions with Majid Al Futtaim, including residential development director and board member of Sharjah Holding; and was formerly CEO at Syrian development company Bena Properties and vice president at AIG Global Real Estate. 

He is also vice chairman of the board at Al Mouj Muscat, Tilal Al Irfan and a board member of Sharjah Holding.

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. He is responsible for portfolio performance and expansion in alignment with Majid Al Futtaim’s vision of developing integrated lifestyle destinations.

Khalifa has over 15 years of real estate and hospitality leadership experience in various organisations. After launching his career with Dubai Holding, he joined Sharjah Holding, a joint venture between Majid Al Futtaim Properties and the Government of Sharjah; and moved to Majid Al Futtaim Properties in 2014. He served as a director in the Shopping Malls business unit and head of Asset Management for the Hotels business unit unti 2019. In that 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.

Khalifa holds a master's degree in financial economics from Boston University and a B.Sc. in Economics from Northeastern University.

Waddah El Solh is Country Head of Levant for Majid Al Futtaim Properties. 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 in 1999, Waddah founded the 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, 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 Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait. He is the company's leading representative 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.

Khaled 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. In this role, he is the company's leading representative in Oman, identifying potential business opportunities and 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. In more than 20 years with Majid Al Futtaim, Talib has served in a number of roles and business units, including administration and personnel manager for Carrefour and general manager of business development.

Prior to joining Majid Al Futtaim, Talib was administration and personnel manager at Target LLC in Oman, director of H.E. the Secretary General’s Office of University Council and as director of public relations at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman.

He also served as a 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, the Chamber of Commerce, and board member of the Omani Economic Association.

Talib has a Master's 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 420 Carrefour stores across 17 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 maximise efficiency and growth prospects, and since his appointment, has led a cost, process and tax optimisation 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.

Samar Elmnhrawy is the Senior-Vice President of Human Capital at Majid Al Futtaim - Retail. She is responsible for leading the Human Capital function, ensuring effective development and implementation of human capital and talent strategies, policies and procedures across markets. She is also driving the culture transformation journey within Majid Al Futtaim - Retail, building a fit-for-purpose, values-led, high-performance organisation.

Samar possesses over 20 years of experience in Human Resources across geographies and industries. Before joining Majid Al Futtaim, she held the role of VP – HR, Health and Safety and General Affairs for Africa, the Middle East, India, Europe, and Oceania at Nissan Motor Corporation. Before that, she spent 15 years with Baker Hughes, a General Electric Company based in Houston, Texas, where she held various senior HR roles. 

Samar holds an MBA from the American University of Sharjah, UAE, and a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering degree from Cairo University, Egypt.

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.

Mohammad Alsowaidi is senior vice president of business and government relations for Majid Al Futtaim Retail.

He previously served as undersecretary to the Minister of Labour in the UAE Ministry of Labour & Social Affairs. 

Mohammad 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.

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 organisation. 

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 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).

Ignace Lahoud is Chief Executive Officer of Majid Al Futtaim - Leisure, Entertainment & Cinemas.

In his role, he leads the company's Leisure, Entertainment & Cinemas business in line with Majid Al Futtaim's long-term strategic direction and growth agenda.

Ignace has 30 years of experience, having spent most of his career leading transformational changes across three continents and multi-billion-dollar businesses within the Walt Disney Company. He joined Majid Al Futtaim from Valence Media/MRC Entertainment, a Beverly Hills-based privately owned company that produces quality content for both TV and film, in addition to live events; where he was Chief Financial Officer. In this role, he was responsible for the integration of the functional areas across all brands, optimising capital structure and developing the framework for long-term strategic plans. Prior to that, he enjoyed a very successful 26-year career with the Walt Disney Company where he held several senior roles.  

He holds an MBA from the Madrid Business School and University of Houston and a B.Sc. from the American University of Beirut.

Tarek Sayed is the chief financial officer at Majid Al Futtaim Leisure, Entertainment and Cinemas. In this role, he is responsible for leading the Finance function and driving its transformation agenda. In addition, he leads the Risk & Compliance, Mergers & Acquisitions, and Shared Services' finance and procurement functions.

Prior to joining Majid Al Futtaim, Tarek worked with Mastercard as chief financial officer for the Middle East and Africa. He has also held several leadership roles with Vodaphone & General Electric spanning Europe, North and Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. 

He holds a Master of Finance and Accounting from the Keller School of Management.

Dana Nahas is vice president for Human Capital at Majid Al Futtaim Leisure, Entertainment and Cinemas. In this role, she leads the HC function across the LEC MENA region, ensuring Majid Al Futtaim's focus on employee-oriented culture that prioritises empowerment, quality, productivity, goal attainment and continuing development.

She has more than 18 years experience with regional and multinational organisations. She was previously director of human resources on the LEC team, and has extensive experience in strategic human capital management as well as developing, implementing and managing an agile and efficient operation across the various HC functions. 

Khaled Abuhamdeh was appointed as Vice President – Real Estate and Projects Delivery at Majid Al Futtaim Ventures in July 2018. In his role, Mr. Abuhamdeh is responsible for developing and defining the Real Estate and Projects Delivery strategy and setting objectives in alignment with the business growth. Prior to joining Majid Al Futtaim, Mr. Abuhamdeh worked at Mabanee Company where he was the Leasing Director responsible for the Real Estate department of The Avenues malls in Kuwait, Bahrain and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Mr. Abuhamdeh has also held leadership positions with several regional retailers, leading the property function as well as the expansion into new markets. Mr. Abuhamdeh holds BS degree in Civil Engineering from Jordan University of Science and Technology, Jordan.

Toni El Massih is Chief Content Officer for Majid Al Futtaim Cinemas, owner and operator of the VOX Cinemas brand, the Middle East’s largest cinema exhibitor.

He leads the company’s work in content production, distribution, theatrical programming and non-theatrical distribution.

In addition to bringing the best of world cinema to Majid Al Futtaim’s customers across the MENA region, Toni also represents Majid Al Futtaim and the region in the global film industry. His achievements include securing Majid Al Futtaim’s partnership agreement with 20th Century Studios (formerly 20th Century Fox), one of the world’s leading film studios, and winning a CinemaCon Global Achievement in Exhibition award for VOX Cinemas.

Toni also champions local and regional content, and drives Majid Al Futtaim’s production ambitions including partnering with MBC Studios and Image Nation Abu Dhabi in support of Arab film.

A 21-year veteran of VOX Cinemas, Toni is a key contributor to Majid Al Futtaim’s drive to deliver an unparalleled and cutting-edge cinema experience across the Middle East and North Africa.

Fahed Ghanim is the Chief Executive Officer of Majid Al Futtaim – Lifestyle. In his role, Mr. Ghanim manages world renowned brands across Home, Fashion, Specialty Retail, and Multiband Concepts covering retail stores across the GCC, while developing expansion strategies for high growth markets and new concepts. Fahed joined Majid Al Futtaim Fashion in February 2018 as Chief Operating Officer for Majid Al Futtaim – Fashion.

Prior to joining Majid Al Futtaim, Fahed was General Manager Retail for L’azurde PLC, a Saudi based jewellery company. This was the third business turn around for Fahed after Bvlgari.

His journey in the real estate industry included the management of various high-profile projects, such as negotiations on a partnership deal with The Trump Organization for a $1.5 billion development.

Fahed has led acquisitions, successful IPO, business transformation, new brand launches, development and growth of globally acclaimed fashion, home and jewellery brands including: Bvlgari, Boucheron, Pomellato, Gucci, Harvey Nichols Dubai, L’azurde, LEGO, Lululemon to name a few.

Fahed is a board member of multiple organisations and holds an MBA degree with distinction from ESCP Europe Business School.

Khaled El Chidiac is Chief Executive Officer of Majid Al Futtaim Global Solutions.

In his role, he is responsible for leading the set-up, establishment, integration and overall performance of the shared services unit.

He was formerly Acting Chief Executive Officer for Majid Al Futtaim – Ventures, overseeing five business verticals including fashion retail, leisure and entertainment, cinemas, financial services, and facilities management. Prior to that, he was Chief Executive Officer for the Majid Al Futtaim Healthcare business and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Majid Al Futtaim - Ventures, where he led the Finance, IT and Risk Management functions. As CFO, he was responsible for the development of the Group’s capabilities, building world class processes and establishing Ventures’ Finance, Procurement and Technology shared services.

Before joining Majid Al Futtaim, Khaled spent over 13 years with General Electric (GE) where he graduated from its premier Finance and Leadership development programmes 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. As General Manager of GE’s Global Business Services in Eastern Europe and Middle East & Africa he successfully designed and executed the “One GE” shared services strategy for Finance and Human Capital across 25 countries.

He holds an MBA from London Business School and earned his M.Sc. in Management from the EM Lyon Business School and a M.Sc. in Economics with distinction from the Lyon II University in France.

In his role, he ensures the procurement department supports all OpCos, leveraging scale, and implementing global best practices to effectively and efficiently manage the acquisition and reporting of third party spend and supplier performance without compromising quality or experience.

Hilmi Rifai is the Head of Group Technology
of Majid Al Futtaim Global Solutions.

In his role, he is responsible for driving Majid Al Futtaim's technology strategic imperatives enabling an integrated customer experience, driving cost efficiency scalability and reliability, owning the enterprise-wide IT platforms and ensuring innovation and agility. Since joining Majid Al Futtaim in 2018, Hilmi has spearheaded the company's efforts to align and improve its technology solutions that empower its digital ecosystem.  In addition to providing enterprise-wide support, Hilmi and his team have been instrumental in the successful launch of several ecosystem-wide capabilities, including SHARE - the company's lifestyle rewards programme, SuccessFactors - the group wide Human Capital platform, and its unified customer passport MAF-ID.

Prior to joining Majid Al Futtaim, he spent more than 20 years in senior positions in major management consulting firms, such as Accenture and Gartner, and heading technology functions in leading conglomerates.

Mohammed Zwayne is Head of Project Management Office of Majid al Futtaim Global Solutions.

In his role, he is responsible for defining and maintaining standards for project management to support the successful delivery of programmes through effective facilitation, tracking and reporting. This includes designating project resources, allocating budgets, monitoring progress and keeping stakeholders informed throughout the project cycle.

Mohammed has over 15 years of experience in developing shared services strategies and planning and executing complex transformation initiatives. He joined Majid Al Futtaim from Coca Cola, where he was an Executive Consultant based in Georgia, U.S.