Assaf AlQuraishi has joined Ma’aden, the Saudi Arabian mining and metals company, as chief human resources officer. He will be based out of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. His social-media post expresses his delight at this opportunity “to lead the human capital function through the company’s current transformation programme and next phase of exponential growth.”
With more than 25 years of human capital and business experience, he has spent nearly 12 years essaying executive C-Suite board roles. He has held local, regional and global roles in human resource management in multinational FMCG businesses across the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe.
The longest stint of AlQuraishi’s career was with Unilever, where he spent more than 19 and a half years. He started off as management-development director, Unilever Middle East & Iran, in 2003. Two years into this role, he was elevated to HR director, Gulf and head-talent acquisition, Unilever Middle East & Iran. By 2006, he was HR operations director, office of the CHRO, Unilever Global. This promotion took him to Rotterdam Area, Netherlands. His next promotion saw him taking on the role of VP HR global leadership development, based out of London. By 2011, he was back in Dubai, UAE, as vice president-HR, Middle East and North Africa.
By the time he moved on from Unilever, in 2022, AlQuraishi had become vice president, human resources-North Africa, Middle East, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.
He was managing director and co-founder of The Twenty Percent, a leadership-development startup consultancy. He has been serving as advisor and council member, Human Capital Advisory Council, since 2021. For a y ear and a half, he also served as independent advisor to the nomination and remuneration committee of Nahdi Medical, Jeddah, working remotely.
Business development and unlocking human potential are AlQuraishi’s forte. His purpose is to “energise businesses and individuals to reach for their stars.” A Newfield Certified Coach (NCC) with the Newfield Network, and a member of the International Coaching Federation (ICF), AlQuiraishi is sure to be an asset to Ma’aden, a firm that aims to transform the mining sector in the UAE.