Meet the team
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Panos Manolopoulos, Ph.D Regional Vice President - EMEA Panos is the Managing Partner of Dubai and Doha, and has been a member of the Board of Directors of Stanton Chase International as Vice Chairman Regions. He's been a member of Stanton Chase since 2003 when he started as General Manager of the Bucharest office and became Managing Partner in 2005. He is one of the shareholders of Stanton Chase in Romania, Bulgaria, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. While in his role as Vice Chairman Regions, he also served as Vice-President for EMEA region, and was the Global Practice Leader in Consumer Products and Services practice group with responsibility over 65 offices in 45 countries and approximately 25% of the global revenue of the firm. Before joining Stanton Chase International he served as Chief Administrator of the University of Wales Swansea and Managing Director of IKRP Rokas and Partners, one of the largest regional law consulting firms with offices in 12 Southeast European countries. Panos is a graduate of Harvard Business School on Executive Education on Leadership Development and Cornell University on Executive Leadership. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Politics and International Relations (American University of Athens), a Master's degree in Diplomacy with Distinction -University of Lancaster- and a Ph.D specializing in International Law and Relations. Additionally, he has graduated from the American European Academy in Austria, the Council of Europe and the European Academy in Sweden, Junior Chamber International where he served as a National President for Greece in 2003. He also holds a postgraduate diploma from the Officers Academy, Ministry of National Defence with focus on Economics/Strategic Defence. Panos has multiple professional associations worldwide. He was awarded, as CEO, the “Best Consulting Company of 2000 in Romania” award and the “Young Entrepreneur Award” for three consecutive years. He has also published over 100 articles internationally on financial and business issues, participated in more than 35 Global and regional Financial and HR Conferences as a key note speaker and contributed to a number of TV and Radio presentations in several countries. Under his management, the Stanton Chase Romanian office has been awarded globally “Office of the year” for 2006 and 2007.
Industry Practice Expertise:
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Wassim KarkabiEMEA Regional Practice Leader - Industrial Wassim is a shareholder and Managing Partner in Stanton Chase Doha, Qatar and Dubai, UAE offices. Wassim is also the Regional Practice Leader for the Industrial sector covering Europe, Middle East and Africa, within Stanton Chase International and an active member of the Natural Resources and Energy, and Logistics and Transportation Practice Groups. Wassim has successfully advised a variety of international and regional organizations on their strategic and leadership concerns, and has completed senior executive search assignments in the Middle East and more specifically in the Gulf countries since 1997. He has served leading multinational and regional holding companies as well as local companies. He has worked closely with and completed assignments for clients in a variety of Industrial Sub Sectors such as Real Estate Development, Facilities Management, Construction Management, Contracting, Plastics, Cable, Steel, Aluminum, Automation, Power Generation, and Power Transmission and Distribution, to name a few. He has also completed C-Suite level executive search assignments within the Natural Resources and Energy sub sectors, in upstream, mid-stream and downstream. He has also completed executive search assignments in the Middle East for some select multinational clients in Consumer Products and Services, and in Logistics and Transportation. Wassim also consults with clients on leadership roles, leadership assessment, competitive mapping, due diligence, and executive on-boarding. He also has coached a number of executives to help them integrate faster within their new organizations. Wassim graduated from the University of La Verne, California, receiving a Bachelor of Science Degree in Marketing. He has been published in a number of business publications across the Middle East region as well as in international Executive Search publication. He has extensively researched and written articles and papers on the subject of Leadership and Leadership Competencies. Industry Practice Expertise:
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Konstantina Sakellariou Partner Konstantina is a Partner and the Marketing and Operations Director of the Stanton Chase – Middle East office, based in Dubai. She focuses on business development, as well as on cultivating partnerships with companies, media, chambers, business councils and other organizations, along with well-known professionals and experts in various business sectors, in order to promote Stanton Chase in the Middle East and enhance business growth in the region. Additionally, she is responsible for the operational and organizational activities of the office. Konstantina has acquired experience in various fields over her 15-year career. In her previous position, she acted as Special Advisor to the Secretary General for Youth in the Hellenic Ministry of Education, actively participating in the development of youth policy, communicating with international partners and organizations, representing the governmental authorities to EU counseling bodies, handling EU programs as well as overall budget and sponsoring issues, while also assisting in PR activities, especially through contacts with the media and the organization of various events. Prior to that, she has worked as consultant in the international legal firm IKRP Rokas & Partners, a law consulting firm with offices in 12 Southeast European countries, and as Account Officer in Laiki Leasing and Alpha Leasing. She has graduated from the Economic University of Athens (Bachelor in Business Administration) and from Deree College (Major in Marketing Management), while she has acquired an MBA in Athens, in collaboration with the Illinois University. She has acted as member of the board in the Institute for Youth and has been elected member of the 2009 Board of Directors of Junior Chamber International, acting as International Vice President assigned to 7 European countries, while she has closely collaborated with ICC internationally. She was also awarded the HR Leadership Award at the World HRD Congress 2009. Industry Practice Expertise:
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Athena TavoulariPartner Athena is a Partner in the Technology, Life Sciences and Healthcare and Consumer Products & Services practice groups of Stanton Chase – Middle East office, based in Dubai. She brings with her a wealth of professional experience within the executive search industry, being exposed in various international and local searches for well-known local or multinational clients. Throughout her extensive career in the executive search industry, Athena has gained experience from a variety of market sectors, such as Technology, Life Sciences and Healthcare, Consumer Products and Services, as well as Financial Services, always with a special focus on the Technology, Life Sciences and Healthcare and Consumer Products & Services. Before joining Stanton Chase – Middle East, Athena was the Managing Director of Stanton Chase Bucharest, as well as a Director in Stanton Chase, focusing on the SE European region. She was accountable for the identification of new business development opportunities, as well as exploitation of regional cross office synergies between the Athens, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia offices of Stanton Chase. Athena has accumulated a significant exposure within the executive search industry, starting her career in 2000 within the Athens office of Stanton Chase, as a Principal Consultant and being responsible for the Technology and Consumer Products and Services market sectors. With her strong focus, high achievement drive, advanced relationship building abilities, client-centric and quality driven philosophy, she managed to develop significantly the Technology practice of the Athens office of Stanton Chase. In 2005 she decided to move to the Athens office of Hay Group, where she was leading the Executive Search & Assessment business unit as a Director, being at the same time an active management team member. Athena has graduated from Pantion University of Social & Political Sciences with a bachelor in Psychology and from Keele University, UK with a masters degree in Human Resource Management & Employee Relations. Industry Practice Expertise:
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Jack MontgomerySenior Consultant Having lived across the Middle East for over 20 years, Jack has worked, studied, and traveled extensively in every country, providing him with an in-depth knowledge of the economies, organizations, and a wide network of individual executives. During his tenure in search, Jack has successfully fulfilled numerous senior level mandates for multi-nationals, large regional conglomerates, and Middle East Investment Banks and Private Equity funds. His industry specialties include fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), automotive, pharmaceuticals, healthcare devices, cement / construction chemicals, manufacturing, and construction.
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Shane PhillipsMiddle East & Northern Africa Regional Practice Leader - Financial Services Shane is the MENA Regional Practice Leader for Financial Services and has been in Executive search for two generations. He has worked on C Level and Board assignments across the globe and has placed senior executives in Investment Banking, Private Banking, Commercial Banking, Retail Banking, Private Equity and Insurance. He is also the founder of “Risk Middle East” a group that encourages Risk Professionals across the GCC to share information and meet periodically.
Shane holds an MBA from London Business School and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of British Columbia. He is a Non-Executive Board Member of Fortis Group Holdings and Chairman and Founder of Big Brothers Big Sisters UAE. A former Executive Board Member of the Canadian Business Council, President of the Club for Canadians and a volunteer with the Families with Special Needs, the United Way and Young Achievers. Industry Practice Expertise:
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Aziza Dada Research Associate Aziza joined Stanton Chase in 2010 as a research associate focusing on mandates in the financial sector. Prior to joining Stanton Chase, she acquired over six years of working experience in the financial sector in Lebanon and the Gulf. She previously worked for Arab Bank Plc, ABQ Zawya and most recently as a Senior Financial Analyst at Sama Dubai (Dubai Properties). Fluent in English and Arabic, Aziza holds a BA and a Masters Degree in Economics and Finance from the American University of Beirut. Industry Practice Expertise:
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Aniola Tahiraj Research Associate Aniola joined Stanton Chase as a Senior Associate focusing on mandates in the Natural Resources and Energy, Industrial, Logistics & Transport and Consumer Products and Services sector for International and Regional companies in the Middle East. Prior to joining Stanton Chase International Aniola obtained three years of experience with another top ranked global executive search firm where she worked for major blue chip organizations across multiple industries, successfully executed senior management and executive level search assignments, in industries such as Consumer Goods, Oil and Gas, Real Estate, Financial Services and Hospitality. Aniola is fluent in Albanian and English, and has knowledge of Italian, French and Turkish languages. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Eastern Mediterranean University in Cyprus and an MBA degree from the same university. Industry Practice Expertise:
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Rasha Hibri Research Associate Rasha joined Stanton Chase as a Research Associate with a main focus on Natural Resources and Energy, Logistics and Transportation, construction & contracting, aerospace and defense, industrial and capital equipment, automotive, chemicals, in addition to electrical equipment, pulp, paper and packaging. Rasha is fluent in English and Arabic and holds a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration and an Associate Degree in Education. She carries over 5 years experience of in-house recruitment as well as within Executive Search firms with specialty concentration on the Energy, Media and the Financial sectors covering the whole GCC region particularly the UAE marketplace. Owing to her industry specialty, she has successfully positioned various executive roles within companies in United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar. Industry Practice Expertise:
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Toral Pasad Research Associate Toral joined Stanton Chase as a Research Associate focusing on mandates in the Industrial, Healthcare, and Consumer Products and Services sector. After growing up in Abu Dhabi, Toral completed a Bachelors degree in the United States. She then embarked on a career that included successful positions at Bloomberg and Goldman Sachs which included developing research models across a broad spectrum of industries and positions. A move into financial recruitment was a natural progression for someone with vast technical knowledge of the sector, and a desire to work at matching individuals’ skill sets and aspirations with the requirements of employers. Toral holds a BBA in Finance, speaks Hindi and is in the position of understanding both the local and Western cultures from her years spent living in both regions. Industry Practice Expertise:
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Hanan Abu Obaid Research Associate Hanan joined Stanton Chase as a Research Associate. Her career experience in talent acquisition and research covers wide range of sectors including Financial Services, Real Estate, Industrial, Human Resources, Retail & Hospitality, Facility Management, Legal, Information Technology & Sales and Marketing across EMEA region. At Stanton Chase, Hanan is focused on mandates in the industrial sector covering C-Suite level executive search assignments within the Natural Resources and Energy as well as Logistics and Transportation practice groups. Hanan holds a Masters Degree in Human Resources Strategic Management (SHRM) from the University of Wollongong in Australia (UOW), and received her Bachelor Degree from Yarmouk University in Jordan specializing in Arts-English Literature & Language. She is fluent in both English & Arabic. Industry Practice Expertise:
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Fahim Mahmud Research Associate Fahim joined Stanton Chase in 2011 as a Research Associate covering engagements in the Technology, Life Sciences and Healthcare, and Consumer Products and Services practice groups for international and regional companies in the Middle East. Prior to joining Stanton Chase, Fahim was an Associate in the Dubai office of Korn/Ferry International, where he built his expertise in executive search, focusing on C-suite mandates across a wide array of sectors, including Financial Services, Family Conglomerates, Consumer Goods and Services and Industrial markets. Fahim is characterized by enthusiasm and stamina in handling demanding clients and specialized projects, and by a strong drive with a distinct client-centric philosophy. He has handled multiple executive search assignments for key business functions, including sales and marketing, business development, industrial operations, human resources and finance for well known international & regional corporations in the Middle East. Prior to his executive search experience, Fahim started his career with Morgan Stanley, where he was involved in the analysis and valuation of technology companies. He also participated in due diligence in a number of technology company transactions and thus he has gained an in-depth understanding in the technology sector. He has acquired a B.A. in Accounting, Economics and Mathematics from Ohio Wesleyan University, where he was a presidential scholar. Industry Practice Expertise:
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