Managing Director, Middle East

Sam has almost 20 years combined executive search and in-house recruitment experience. She has developed her global leadership career with InterSearch in both Australia & Middle East. Sam was born in Kuwait, educated in Australia and lived in London and Canada for a number of years working within the HR teams of Merrill Lynch and BP International. In the Middle East, she worked with Standard Chartered Bank as the Regional Talent Acquisition Specialist, Middle East, Pakistan & Africa (MEPA); focusing on senior-level hires as well as committing to the global diversity agenda to attract Arab, African & female talent into the organisation.

Samantha has been based in the Middle East region over 12 years and is currently Managing Director – Middle East. She is responsible for building and leading a multi-cultural team of high-performing Consultants and Research Associates across four offices and serving a variety of global, regional and country specific clients across the Middle East & Africa (MEA) region. Sam personally focuses on executing executive search assignments across the full spectrum of the Banking & Finance sector and became the InterSearch Worldwide Practice Group Leader for the Financial Services sector in 2014.

Sam is a big believer in identifying and attracting disruptive global talent to help organisations transform, innovate, challenge and drive commercial opportunities to achieve success.

“To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.”
– Winston Churchill

Sam holds a Bachelor of Science, with a major in Psychology, from the University of Melbourne in Australia and was recently elected to the InterSearch worldwide Board of Directors in 2017.

IWW Sub-leader Banking and Financial Services and Managing Partner Oslo

After four years of working in London’s finance sector, Jan has dedicated his past 12 years to executive search and recruiting senior personnel within financial services and banking in Norway and internationally. As partner with Sekse & Hogstad (Norwegian member of Intersearch) Jan has since his entry to the company in 2012 been instrumental in developing its footprint in the Norwegian executive search industry as Managing Partner of the Oslo office. Jan also serves as Western & Northern Europe Sub-Leader for Banking and Financial Services Practice Group.

As part of the management team with Sekse & Hogstad Jan has helped build the company’s sector focus towards oil & gas, shipping, infrastructure and financial services and banking. While supporting the competitive advantage that lies in true diversity, and being an advocate for talent prepared to lead in an ever-changing digitalized world, Jan brings true dedication in securing long term solutions on behalf of both client and candidate.

Jan holds a Master of Business Administration degree from European School of Economics in London, and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Macquarie University in Sydney. Jan is also a Sub-Lieutenant with the Norwegian Coastal Artillery.

As the company’s chief operating officer, Allen Oakley optimizes the infrastructure, scalability, function and effectiveness of Charles Aris Inc. and its team members. Allen leads the company’s internal real-estate development efforts and works directly on behalf of corporate clients while running a recruiting practice revolving around Commercial, Residential & Industrial Real Estate.

Prior to joining the firm, Allen served as a commercial real-estate broker for The Shopping Center Group in Charlotte, where he focused on national tenant representation and land transactions for retail and multifamily developers.

Allen also previously worked in Atlanta for The Sembler Company, leading its site acquisition team while focusing on large retail and mixed-use development opportunities throughout the Southeastern United States. He helped forge relationships with multifamily development partners for Sembler’s mixed-use developments. Beforehand, Allen served as a director of real estate at Raving Brands, selecting sites for the company’s premier concepts throughout the Southeast and Midwest.

Allen holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from the University of Georgia and earned his MBA degree from Wake Forest University.

Andrew joined InterSearch Middle East to establish the Abu Dhabi business, and build out a first class search practice across the UAE’s capital. Having spent the majority of his career building relationships across EMEA, Turkey and Asia Pacific, Andrew is well positioned to ensure the InterSearch Middle East business remains top of class, and services clients across a multitude of sectors and industries.

Having worked for large publicly listed search firms, as well as a smaller business with international aspirations, Andrew understands the nuances of best practice in fast-changing environments, and combines this to achieve the best solutions for his clients and candidates.

InterSearch Abu Dhabi focuses on searches within the following sectors: Energy, Oil & Gas, Financial Services, FMCG, Retail, Manufacturing, Logistics, IT, Telecommunications, as well as aligning with Government Institutions accordingly. With a truly global network, Andrew exceeds expectation, and delivers a detailed and high quality service, always.