Shorouk is the Global Head of Talent Acquisition & Emiratisation at Al-Futtaim Retail, based in Dubai, where she leads end-to-end hiring for 8,000+ employees across MENA, APAC & CIS markets. With over 15 years’ experience, she manages around 2,800 hires annually and is recognised for turning TA into a strategic, commercially minded function that enables market expansion, revenue growth and localisation targets rather than simply filling vacancies.
She has integrated talent acquisition, talent management and succession planning into one workforce agenda building Success Profiles for critical roles, strengthening internal pipelines, and de-risking the business against key talent gaps. Shorouk has introduced structured assessments, AI-enabled and psychometric tools, and a “License to Hire” academy, improving hiring quality, reducing time-to-fill and elevating leadership accountability for talent. She is particularly passionate about Emiratisation and nationalisation, designing internship, graduate and national talent programmes that directly feed hard-to-fill frontline and leadership roles and create long-term value for the business.
What’s a recent professional achievement of yours that you are proud of?
• Scaled a global TA remit to lead ~2,800 hires annually for an 8,000+ workforce across MENA, APAC and emerging CIS markets, repositioning TA as a strategic enabler for new market entries and retail concept launches.
• Integrated TA, talent management and succession planning into a single workforce agenda, using Success Profiles and critical-role mapping to de-risk the business against key talent gaps and strengthen internal pipelines.
• Accelerated Emiratisation and nationalisation by moving local representation into the mid-teens %, building repeatable pipelines through targeted events, partnerships and internal mobility into hard-to-fill frontline and leadership roles.
• Launched the “License to Hire” academy for hiring managers, achieving ~95% attendance, 9.7/10 satisfaction and 40%+ knowledge uplift in pilot markets, directly improving interview quality and decision-making.
• Implemented AI-enabled and psychometric assessment (Criteria + video interviewing) integrated with SAP SuccessFactors, standardising evaluation, improving quality of hire and giving leaders clearer, data-driven insights on talent.
What is your prediction for the future of the TA industry?
In short, I see TA becoming a strategic, commercial function at the heart of business planning – owning the flow of talent into, across and sometimes out of the organisation, powered by AI and data, but grounded in human judgment, local insight and a strong sense of purpose.
What projects are you planning on working on in 2026?
Job Architecture & Skills Planning – Design a unified job architecture and skills-based workforce plan for Retail, clarifying critical roles, capabilities and career paths.
• Global TA Operating Model & AI – Embed a standardised TA operating model across MENA, APAC and CIS, powered by AI-led assessments and Success Profiles, to improve quality of hire and scalability.
• Integrated Talent, Succession & Nationalisation – Bring TA, talent management, succession and nationalisation under one strategy to build strong internal and national pipelines for critical and future leadership roles