Deeka Saeed

Group Head of Personnel and Administration Division June 2011 to present
Artan Holding - Doha, Qatar

Artan Holding: A Holding Group with a diverse portfolio of businesses in industries such as Real Estate, Facilities and Property Management, Architecture & Interior Design, Educational Institutes, Vocational Training Academy, and ICT Services. Reporting to the Group CEO, my role is to manage and run the Group newly centralised division for Human Resources, Employee Relations, Payroll, Administration, Government Affairs & Immigration/Public Relations, Procurement & Contracts, and Health & Safety at the Workplace.

Achievements so far: • Policies and Procedures - Group and Subsidiaries Level: • Developed and rolled-out Human Resources and Procurement Policies and Procedures Manuals
• Developed and implemented Delegation of Authority for Human Resources and Procurement
• Standardised employment agreements and contracts
• Restructured Subsidiaries organisational structure to fit with the Group centralised structure
• Developed and rolled-out on (recruitment) and off (termination) boarding processes
• Developed and implemented compensation and benefits grading system
• Centralised local HR activities such as payroll, recruitment, contracts, leave entitlements and appraisal cycle at Group level
• Recruited key high level strategic positions such as MDs for some of the subsidiaries
• Familiarised myself very quickly with the Qatari Labour Law and Qatarization initiative

Director May 2008 to April 2011
Skills Formation Ltd and Consultant - London, UK

Skills Formation Ltd: Skills Formation specialized in providing professional Business Training, Project Management Consultancy, Coaching and Mentoring that were tailored to compliment organizational needs. Clients include: The London Development Agency, CRU Group International, First Protocol Group Ltd, Young Enterprise, and Government Actuary Department.


• Skills Formation gave me the platform to work at high strategic level. Apart from over-looking the day to day business operations, I also consulted and provided business training solutions to a diverse client portfolio in areas such as Leadership and Management, Business Strategies, and Customer Care, targeted at improving performance and embed change within the workforce. I also built and managed a strong pool of training staff and sales team, which gave me the opportunity to develop talent and increase organisation effectiveness and viability

• As a Senior Consultant, I over saw and delivered a number of projects on behalf of other network partners.
- For Catalyst Business Dynamics Ltd, I provided and delivered expert and flexible business training solutions to a range of clients within the public and private sectors. Through a consultative approach, my aim was to maximise individual learning potential whilst providing a real and measurable return on investment using tools such as Action Plan Support Programme and Action Learning Sets.
- Assisted in the transition process of a £10million public-private initiative (PPI) project between London Borough of Barnet and Go Plant Ltd. In this role, I assisted in the implementation of a change management programme that empowered employees to accept and embrace changes through the use of training tools such as transition cycle, emotional intelligence, psychometrics testing, conflict resolution, and communication skills.

Manager - Events Products Placement July 2007 to May 2008
Informa Maritime & Transport, Informa Group plc - Europe

Part of the FTSE-250 Informa plc Group, Informa Maritime & Transport is a leading specialist information provider. In this role, I was responsible to deliver strategic projects that maximise revenue and brand building opportunities from industry events for a portfolio of market-leading prestigious publications, including the internationally-renowned Lloyd's List newspaper.


• Maximising revenue: • Created platforms that enabled exclusive sponsorship deals worth £150K.
• Enhanced product placements and exposure that drove advertisement revenue.
• Through strategic alliances presented opportunities that generated new revenue and business development in a highly competitive market.
• Pushed and rolled out new and existing industry products into market and geo regions.
• Budget management: • Accountable for an annual budget of £280k.
• Reduced historical event marketing spent by 15% through the implementation of effective and efficient operations management, streamlining current processes, and producing White Paper for best practice.
• Conducted on-going budget reviews, cost management and reforecasting plans.
• Produced regular performance reports against set KPIs and ROI performance against budget.
• Drew up and negotiated over 100 barter agreements and partnership deals per year for large scale events in conjunction with legal department.

Exhibitions Manager May 2006 to April 2007
Pilat Media Ltd - Europe, N. America

As an IT Software Provider, Pilat Media specialises in airtime sales, traffic and programme management software. My role was to market their digital services through industry-led global events as well as on-line and PR campaigns.


• Created and delivered B2B event projects that successfully supported company world-wide marketing initiatives.
• Identified key regional events as a platform to roll out new industry products such as Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) and Mobile TV for maximum visibility and exposure.
• Briefed design and PR agencies to ensure quality and value for money delivered.
• Tracked and managed event leads and activities using Siebel CRM system to drive sales revenue.
• Established and developed strategic alliances that contributed to business development.

Events Project Manager Aug 2002 to May 2006
PennWell Corporation - Europe, Asia, N. America, Middle East

PennWell Corporation is a highly diversified, B2B media company providing authoritative print and on-line publications, conferences and exhibitions, research and informations products to strategic global markets.
My role at PennWell was to manage and drive all aspects of event projects from conception to completion.


• Revenue and budget management: • Proposed and managed annual budgets for projects ranging from £125K - £1.5m
• Managed a portfolio of seven large scale events across multiple industries
• Ensured minimum delegate & exhibitor sales revenue determined by P&L owner
• Guaranteed cost savings through contract negotiation with suppliers
• Developed contra agreements with key industry players to maximise exposure at minimum cost
• Conducted successful world-wide research campaigns which identified new revenue opportunities
• Introduced policies and guidelines for tracking ROI on projects and risk assessments
• Project management: • Successfully launched complex event projects in North America, China and Middle East
• Designed and implemented effective global media marketing campaigns to raise project awareness
• Built strong database through effective use of list management agencies, direct mailing and advertising campaigns
• Published industry press releases through global PR agencies
• Partnered with international high dignitaries such as Royal members, Ambassadors, Commerce Chambers to ensure local support and event awareness
• Event marketing and managing staff training and development

Contract Events Specialist September 1994 to Aug 2002
As an events specialist, I worked with diverse clients such as the organisations below arranging medium to large scale event projects which were held in national and international markets. My role ranged from product placements to raising awareness, VIP hospitality, road shows, and gallery openings which have attracted audience of up to 30, 000 visitors. Some of these projects were on voluntary basis.