CEO search firm in Dubai.
Retained Chief Executive Officer search in Dubai and across UAE · Saudi Arabia · Qatar · Kuwait. CEO mandates are the most consequential leadership decision a board makes. We run them as a multi-quarter conversation, not a transaction — mapping the universe, back-channelling references before the first call, and pressure-testing the candidate against the company's actual operating reality.
How we read a CEO.
Every CEO candidate we shortlist for a Dubai mandate is evaluated against five lenses, refined over two decades of CEO placements across India and the GCC:
- 01P&L scale lived through (not managed in slide-deck form)
- 02Capital-allocation instincts at scale
- 03Board and investor fluency
- 04Operating cadence under stress
- 05Successor and bench-building track record
₹6–18 Cr fixed + variable + long-term equity
Typical CEO band for Dubai-based mandates, fixed plus variable plus long-term equity / ESOP. Adjust upward for listed-company and PE-backed roles.
14–22 weeks (longer for confidential replacements)
Kick-off to signed offer. Add 4–6 weeks for confidential CXO replacements and cross-border briefs.
Retained
Single-firm retainer, milestone-billed at 25–33% of target compensation. 12-month replacement guarantee.
From the ground.
We have placed CEOs across listed NBFCs, asset managers, technology unicorns and family businesses transitioning to professional leadership.
Our Dubai office runs leadership search across the GCC — the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait — for banks, family offices, sovereign-linked businesses, GCC entrants from India and global multinationals.
- CEO mandates in Banking & Islamic Finance
- CEO mandates in Family Offices & Conglomerates
- CEO mandates in Real Estate & Hospitality
- CEO mandates in Energy & Renewables
- CEO mandates in Healthcare
- CEO mandates in Technology & E-commerce
Other Dubai search practices.
CEO search across our offices.
Brief us on a CEO search in Dubai.
A consultant from our Dubai office will be in touch within one business day.
Start a CEO search