J. Benedict Santos
Dubai
Summary
Accomplished talent management professional with twelve years of progressive leadership across the Middle East's premier contingent and executive search organizations and recent in-house execution and advisory in a dynamic SWF. Born and raised in the Gulf to expatriate parents, my early integration into regional culture creates a unique profile that bridges expatriate leadership with local talent across multinational environments. Recently completed a strategic consulting engagement as right hand to the Head of Talent Management at Emirates Investment Authority, leading their unprecedented transformation from passive holdings entity to active sovereign wealth fund. My systematic advancement through diverse organizational environments has cultivated comprehensive expertise. Gulf Connexions established research fundamentals and market intelligence foundations. Madison Pearl developed entrepreneurial agility and cultural integration mastery. Tandem Search refined commercial accountability and client strategy execution. Korn Ferry delivered exposure to global institutional frameworks and my brief time at Spencer Stuart further enhanced my sophisticated executive assessment capabilities for high-stakes mandates. It is my realized goal to positively impact organizations talent dynamics by aligning regional cultural intelligence with global operational excellence. I hope to leverage my expertise to help solve regional employers' most pressing challenges: building compelling employer brands, retaining high-performing talent, advancing nationalization objectives, and extracting maximum value from expatriate experts through knowledge transfer. As the Middle East is thrust further up as economic and competitive innovation hub, this has led to unprecedented demand for professionals who are capable architecting people strategies that compliments the regional talent pool to drive business results. Dynamic changes in the way wand employee sentiments shift, catalyzed with AI's transformative impact on workplace dynamics intensifies the need for leaders who seamlessly integrate technological advancement with people first strategies by championing cultural authenticity and talent diversity.
Overview
12
12
years of professional experience
Work History
Talent Management Consultant
EMIRATES INVESTMENT AUTHORITY
Abu Dhabi
03.2024 - 06.2025
- Company Overview: Recruited during EIA's strategic transformation from passive holdings entity to active sovereign wealth fund.
- Recruited during EIA's strategic transformation from passive holdings entity to active sovereign wealth fund, serving as right-hand to Head of Talent Management while establishing their first-ever dedicated Talent Management function and architecting foundational talent infrastructure across all investment verticals.
- This engagement elevated my profile from external search consultant to strategic internal advisor, providing deep exposure to sovereign wealth fund governance, nationalization strategy execution, and organizational transformation leadership.
- The role fundamentally shifted my expertise from tactical recruitment to comprehensive talent ecosystem design, positioning me as a specialist in government entity modernization and strategic talent management.
- Recruited during EIA's strategic transformation from passive holdings entity to active sovereign wealth fund.
- Contract completion to pursue permanent strategic talent leadership opportunities.
Associate - Executive Search
SPENCER STUART MENA
Dubai
08.2023 - 12.2023
- Company Overview: World's premier search firm.
- Recruited to deliver C-suite mandates for sovereign wealth funds and regional conglomerates.
- Supported end-to-end search execution for senior executive roles across multiple sectors.
- Enhanced executive assessment skills and gained exposure to global frameworks at the world's premier search firm.
- Elevated industry credibility and completed prestigious training programs.
- World's premier search firm.
- Resigned to pursue career change and desire cascading tangible achievements in an impact and goal driven role.
Senior Associate - Professional Search
KORN FERRY AG
Dubai
01.2022 - 01.2023
- Company Overview: Premier global search firm.
- Joined Korn Ferry's new Professional Search practice targeting financial services and senior executive roles.
- Led search assignments for banking, wealth management, and sovereign wealth funds.
- Developed analytical skills and decision-making capabilities within global institutional frameworks.
- Premier global search firm.
- Resigned to join Spencer Stuart which offered better mobility and practice leaning on leadership assessment and advisory.
Senior Consultant - Executive Search
TANDEM SEARCH (BLUEFIN NSI TALENT)
Dubai
01.2020 - 01.2022
- Led executive search assignments focusing on banking and management consulting talent.
- Promoted to lead consultant with full P&L responsibility, exceeding revenue targets.
- Established commercial accountability and client management skills while building sustainable partnerships.
- Developed team leadership capabilities and demonstrated measurable business results.
- Resigned to join Korn Ferry for global institutional expertise.
Research Manager & Account Lead - Sovereign & Financial Services
MADISON PEARL LLC
Dubai
01.2015 - 01.2020
- Founding team member who progressed from Associate to Research Manager.
- Led major sovereign fund accounts and delivered executive appointments with strong billing performance.
- Developed client relationship management and complex mandate delivery expertise.
- Built reputation in sovereign sector recruitment and entrepreneurial skills.
- Resigned during the Pandemic and to gain career maturity with Tandem Search for commercial exposure and P&L responsibility.
Researcher - Financial Services Practice
GULF CONNEXIONS GROUP
Bahrain / Dubai
01.2013 - 01.2015
- Entry-level role supporting executive search in Private Equity, Asset Management, and Investment Banking.
- Built foundational skills in candidate engagement, market mapping, and competitive intelligence.
- Established research fundamentals and market knowledge across GCC financial services.
- Developed understanding of regional talent dynamics and cross-cultural communication.
- Resigned to join Madison Pearl as founding team member for entrepreneurial opportunity.
Education
Cambridge IGCSE Certificate - International General Certificate of Secondary Education
Sacred Heart School
01.2013
Artificial Intelligence in Human Resources Certificate - undefined
Academy to Innovate HR
04.2025
People Analytics Certificate - undefined
Academy to Innovate HR
05.2025
Skills
- Advanced search methodologies
- Psychometric assessments
- Analytics infrastructure
- Specialized regional expertise in nationalization and sovereign fund operations
- Strategic business execution
- Compensation benchmarking
- Transformation strategy
- Infrastructure development
- Comprehensive market intelligence
- Executive-level communication mastery
- C-suite engagement
- Cross-cultural dialogue
- Strategic documentation
- Stakeholder alignment
- Organizational transformation leadership
- Change management
- Crisis resolution
- Rapid deployment capabilities
- Cross-cultural bridge building
- Regional integration expertise
- Advanced stakeholder network development
- Consensus building
- Forensic organizational analysis
- Data-driven decision making
- Systematic approach design
- Performance measurement excellence
- Continuous learning orientation
- Cultural authenticity
- Professional ethics adherence
- Sustained performance excellence
- AI and analytics integration
- Advanced data architecture design
- Future-ready digital transformation capabilities
Websites
Timeline
Talent Management Consultant
EMIRATES INVESTMENT AUTHORITY
03.2024 - 06.2025
Associate - Executive Search
SPENCER STUART MENA
08.2023 - 12.2023
Senior Associate - Professional Search
KORN FERRY AG
01.2022 - 01.2023
Senior Consultant - Executive Search
TANDEM SEARCH (BLUEFIN NSI TALENT)
01.2020 - 01.2022
Research Manager & Account Lead - Sovereign & Financial Services
MADISON PEARL LLC
01.2015 - 01.2020
Researcher - Financial Services Practice
GULF CONNEXIONS GROUP
01.2013 - 01.2015
Cambridge IGCSE Certificate - International General Certificate of Secondary Education
Sacred Heart School
Artificial Intelligence in Human Resources Certificate - undefined
Academy to Innovate HR
People Analytics Certificate - undefined
Academy to Innovate HR