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 16 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.

Ashlee Wagner is a practice leader who leads Charles Aris’ Financial Services practice across banking, insurance, wealth management, credit card, payments and fintech clients. Ashlee primarily focuses on Strategy & Corporate Development roles, recruiting current and former management consultants from Bain & Company, The Boston Consulting Group and McKinsey & Company, as well as other top-tier consulting firms.

Ashlee holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Prior to joining Charles Aris, Ashlee worked for State Farm Insurance with a focus on auto, home, life and health insurance as well as banking products.

Ashlee has a passion for helping others and spending time with friends and family. Outside of work, she enjoys checking off her bucket list and traveling to new places with her husband, John; spending time with their dogs, Marley and Riley; and supporting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

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.