Careers

A graduate from Karachi University, Murtuza joined Descon Engineering Limited in 1984 and served as Manager Karachi Office. Later in his career with Descon, he served in various positions at the corporate level as Head of Commercial, Head of Supply Chain, Head of Administration and Head of Manpower Services.
Currently, Murtuza is holding 3 portfolios in Descon as Head of Manpower Services responsible for mobilisation of skilled manpower from Pakistan and other countries for Descon projects globally.
He is the General Manager of Interworld Travels, managing travel and logistics of all Descon entities and the General Manager of DTI – Descon Technical Institute – which is one of the TVET institute serving at the national, provincial and corporate level.

Mr. Issam Baig is the Managing Director of Jan Mohammad & Sons. JMS is one of the oldest companies operating in manpower export in the subcontinent, established in 1943. The organization has recruited over a million highly skilled and unskilled workers to the GCC.

Mr. Baig was previously the managing Director of the North Region operations of Red Tape Media Group Advertising Agency Ltd.

Mr. Baig is a graduate of the York University in Toronto, Canada

Mr. Abdul Khalique Khan has earned a boltless career of more than 46 years in the field of Administration of Construction Industry. Mr. Khan has led team of professionals for recruitment, selection and mobilization of functional and operational staff including engineers and technical staff (skilled & un-skilled) for both local and overseas projects in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait. Mr. Khan had earned reputation as tremendously expert in exporting manpower not only from Pakistan but from different countries like India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Taiwan, Philippines and Thailand with entire satisfaction of the customer. He is well known as a Global Recruiter for the technical, non-technical, administrative and professional engineers for the construction industry.
Mr. Khan and his team is working extensively for the hiring of manpower for Gulf countries with special concentration in Oil & Gas companies. Arranging human capital for the Oil & Gas projects and shutdowns is the key strength and hiring from the Project Heads, Engineers, Supervisory staff and technical workers. Major client list includes, Sendan International, AYTB, NHC, ABIS, Linde, Gas Arabian, SISCO, RISAL, Sulzer, PCMC, Jana Marine, Al Tamimi, Doosan Babcock, NPCC, Emdad Services, ABM Hertel, ADNOC, ADGAS, Qatar Construction, Burhan International, Solb26, Stork, TAG Engineering, Ramsis, MSCS, STS, Al Hassan Engineering to name a few. He is also core member of Industry Advisory Group (IAG), where is playing a pivotal role for the training and development of the technical staff for the construction industry at large. Mr. Khan is also Group Leader (Construction Industry) of the Industry Advisory Group, working for the development of National Competency Standards for the trades related to Construction Industry at large. Mr. Khan represents Pakistan at International Labor Organization forum for development of best practices and rights of labor community in Pakistan. He is working very closely with public bodies like PSDF, NAVTTC and TEVTA for the training of technical manpower being deployed by the industry locally and as well internationally. Mansol is affiliated with Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) Malaysia, ABM Malaysia and The Welding Institute (TWI) Malaysia. Mr. Khan also owns diversified experience in the field of Air Travel business and had been working as Chief Executive for a leading Travel Agency in Pakistan catering tours and travel services to the corporate and walk-in customers.

Mr. Kashif Ahmed Noor is the Director General, Bureau of Emigration & Overseas Employment, Pakistan

Having nearly 2 decades of diversified experience with various industries, Faham has a life philosophy to learn-develop-train and grow. Accepting challenges is second to Faham’s nature with an intent to add value to work and long term business sustainability. In addition to PepisCo Faham has worked with British American Tobacco, Telenor in Pakistan and National Health Services in U.K. Faham has always been keen in enabling talent to reach to their potential and grow.

Shahid Mustafa is the President & Chief Executive Officer of Telenor Microfinance Bank (formerly Tameer Microfinance Bank). He has also been associated with Citibank in a regional level leadership role, a Middle Eastern Bank, as Chief Operating Officer, Standard Chartered Bank as Country Head, Commercial Banking and as the founding CEO of Pakistan Microfinance Investment Company.

Mr. Moeed Yousaf is the Founder and Managing Director of MUSE, a vertically integrated luxury fashion house. Luxury apparel, leather goods, and accessories manufacturer, retailer, and exporter.

Prior to launching MUSE, Mr. Yousaf was based in New York City, working in the asset management industry at a Fund of Funds. Mr. Yousaf started his career working at the investment bank Morgan Stanley, in the mergers and acquisitions department.

Mr. Moeed Yousaf is a graduate of Princeton University and earned his Master in Business Administration from INSEAD, France. Mr. Yousaf is Chair of the Princeton Alumni Schools Committee for Pakistan.

Mr. Yousaf has previously served on the Board of the Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO).

Mr. Faisal Siddiqui is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Daewoo Pakistan Express Bus Service Ltd. He joined Daewoo in 2011 as a Director and he has overseen various growth projects since. Prior to joining Daewoo Mr. Siddiqui worked in the United States for 14 years. He spent his career in the Finance industry, working in Investment Banking at Credit Suisse in New York. Mr. Faisal Siddiqui holds a dual bachelor’s degree in Finance from the Wharton School and in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his MBA from Columbia University.

Fatima Asad-Said, Regional Director, is an integral member of the top leadership at AbacusConsulting, a leading international professional services firm offering cutting edge technology, outsourcing and consulting solutions to clients across three continents. Her portfolio includes leading the Human Capital Solutions business, and internally the Corporate HR and PMO functions. She is, also, CEO of AbacusELS (a subsidiary of AC) offering HR outsourcing solutions, and responsible for strategically managing the alliance partnership with Mercer, a leading global HR consulting firm. She has over twenty years of change management, organizational structuring and human capital development experience through strategic formulation and project management roles. An MBA from LUMS, and post graduate diploma from LSE, she started her career with Coopers & Lybrand International and then PricewaterhouseCoopers. Through her business experience and project leadership, in strategic change, governance, and human capital management, she possesses significant expertise for adding value to clients on the development of organizational strategies that effectively integrate human capital practices with long-term strategic business plans and capacity building. Her extensive experience has allowed her to partner and advise national and international clients across leading private, public and multi-national sectors at the Boardroom level. She also is a board member of various organizations such as LUMS, Kashf Foundation and Kaarvan Crafts and serves as advisor to various boards, international associations, and entrepreneurial ventures like i2i (Invest to Innovate), PHCF and SHRM Pakistan. She also served as the President for the SDSB Luminites Association 2015-17.

Ahmad Jalal is the Chief Executive Officer for Aman Tech. He has more than 16 years of international experience and has a proven record in the field of financial management, building operations, and investment banking.

Earlier, Mr. Jalal was an Executive Director at Goldman Sachs where he was primarily involved in strategic financing for the Investment Banking Division and the Principal Investments Area.

Mr. Jalal is a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales. He received a BSc (Hons) in Economics from the London School of Economics and an MPA/International Development with a concentration in entrepreneurial finance from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Qasif currently heads Finja that he helped co-found. Finja is a Pakistani FinTech startup with a mission to transform how people relate to money and make payments.

Previously Qasif founded FinSurgents; a financial services startup consultancy, which specializes in re-tooling analogue business cases to digital. The firm has clients in Pakistan, UAE and Africa.

Qasif has close to 20 years of multi country experience in building, managing and growing digital financial services, products and businesses. Qasif previously served as head of digital banking for MCB, one of the largest banks in Pakistan and earlier on, as head of marketing and digital channels for ABN AMRO bank Singapore.

Before joining MCB, Qasif worked at Standard Chartered Pakistan as head of digital banking.

Fahad Iqbal serves as Managing Director at Ravi Automobile (Pvt) Ltd. He retains senior roles across all group companies contributing his time and expertise growing the family business forward.

He has been extensively involved in modernizing manufacturing processes across all group companies and in the process has also formed an independent company that consults and provides complete upgradation solutions to the manufacturing industry at large.
He is also actively involved in mechanization of the agriculture sector collaborating with top end European companies and bringing customized technologically advanced solutions for local farmers.

Fahad is a recipient of the ‘Order of Star of Italy’ and member of the district management board at Punjab Vocational Training Council and also leads the Ravi Infinity Foundation on behalf of the family focusing on skill development for the under privileged.
Fahad obtained his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing Engineering respectively from Columbia University, USA.

As Deputy COO, Patrick oversees the development and operations of Generation in our more recent markets in Asia and Latin America, and supports the development of new partnerships globally by instilling operational best practices. He is currently supporting Generation’s launch in Pakistan, in collaboration with the Punjab Skills Development Fund. Previously, he was Country Manager for Generation Kenya, running five industry programs across the country. Before joining Generation, he was an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Co. in Nairobi, where he supported public and social sector clients primarily in East and West Africa on project development and implementation in the topics of industrial development, electric power and natural gas, and healthcare. He holds a BA in Molecular Biology from Princeton University, and now lives in Boston with his fiancée.

Jawad Khan is the CEO of Punjab Skills Development Fund in Pakistan. PSDF manages over USD 200M in contributions from the Government of Punjab, DFID UK and The World Bank. The Fund is shaping the future wellbeing of the poor and vulnerable youth of Punjab, with a population of 120 million, by training them in demand-driven and market-relevant skills and supporting them in finding income-generating opportunities in Pakistan and beyond.
Before joining PSDF, Jawad has spent 15 years in the corporate sector in the UAE. He was the Chief Operating Officer of the international development division of the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD); USD 60B sovereign wealth fund of the Government of Dubai. Before that, he was associated with Dubai Holding and held various senior leadership positions including Chief Operating Officer of SmartCity Dubai, Chief Strategy Officer of TECOM Investments, Chief Operating Officer of Global Village and the Head of Strategy & Corporate Planning. During his association with Dubai Holding, he has successfully developed several mixed-use real estate, industrial and entertainment mega projects in Dubai and smart cities in Europe and South Asia.

Jawad Khan has a Master in International Finance & Business from Columbia University in the City of New York, USA.

Fatimah has 25 years of diverse professional experience of the corporate banking, consulting and the development sectors – both within Pakistan and overseas. She has a Masters in International Relations from the Quaid-i-Azam University and a MBA from the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS).

Fatimah started her career in the banking sector of Pakistan as a financial analyst. She lead the first comprehensive consumer survey of financial services – covering the informal and the formal financial products. As the Head of Marketing Research at Coopers & Lybrand, in Lahore, Fatimah serviced the research needs of multinationals such as Pepsi International and SHV International (a liquefied gas company). At the Asia Foundation, Islamabad, Fatimah was instrumental in designing and implementing the first major USAID sponsored microfinance programme in the country. For over 6 years. Fatimah worked as a freelance consultant in the development sector, delivering assignments that focused on building sustainable economic opportunities for the poor in mainstream commercial markets. She delivered assignments in Tajikistan, India, UK and Pakistan. Indicative list of her clients include the Asian Development Bank, The Aga Khan Foundation, and the Swiss Development Corporation.

Currently, Fatimah is working as a Private Sector Development Advisor with the Department for International Development (DFID) – UK. She is the lead technical and policy advisor for the vocational training programme portfolio of DFID in Pakistan. She is also providing cross cutting private sector development advisory support to DFID’s education, nutrition and family planning programmes.

As Global Head of Partnerships, Zahra helps take the Generation methodology of recruiting, training and placing young people into career launching professions to new geographies. She is currently supporting the active launch of Generation in Pakistan, in collaboration with the Punjab Skills Development Fund. She is on secondment from McKinsey & Co, where, in her previous role, she served as the Clientele Council Manager, helping to shape McKinsey’s strategy as well as driving a pillar of the strategy, working closely with members of McKinsey’s shareholder council. Prior to that, as an Engagement Manager, she worked across healthcare, consumer goods, technical and vocational skills sectors in Europe, East & West Africa and Pakistan respectively.  She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, an MSc in Global Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health and a BA Hons in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge.

Dirk is a Partner in the Middle East Office of McKinsey & Company and the leader of the Firm’s Education Practice in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He has supported Ministries of Education and other public institutions as well as private education providers in major system- and institution-level transformations in multiple countries both in the field of K12 education as well as higher education and vocational education and training (VET). He is also working closely with companies and governments to prepare their workforce for the challenges and opportunities of digitization and works at the intersection of economic development and human capital development. Dirk holds a Ph.D. in Finance and Economics from the University of Muenster, Germany. He is also a former Fellow of the McKinsey Global Institute, McKinsey’s Economic Think Tank.

Mohammed joined IFC’s Global Education team in July 2012 as a Senior Education Specialist. He has over forty years of experience in the private and public sectors in education, information technology and finance. Prior to IFC, he was Vice President, International at Seneca College, Canada’s leading community college. He has spent more than twenty five years in higher education in senior management and operational roles.

Mohammed has extensive experience of higher education systems in developed and developing markets specializing in global and regional partnerships and also research on employability outcomes. He has a Masters in International Business from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has worked extensively in emerging markets in Latin America, Africa, Asia Pacific, South Asia, Middle East as well as North America and has spoken and presented at conferences all over the world.

Taimur Saleem Khan Jhagra is the Provincial Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for Finance.

Makhdum Hashim Jawan Bakht obtained the degree of Bachelors in Commerce from McGill University, Canada. Prior to contesting the general elections in 2013 he was associated with the Banking sector and served as Vice President, Corporate & Investment Banking division at Citibank. He has been elected as Member, Provincial Assembly of Punjab in general elections 2013 and is functioning as Chairman, Standing Committee on Finance.

Dr Ali Cheema is an Associate Professor of Economics and Political Science at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). He headed the Economics Department at LUMS between 2005 and 2010. He is also a Senior Research Fellow in governance at the Institute of Development and Economic Alternatives (IDEAS), the co-lead academic of the University of Oxford and London School of Economic-led International Growth Centre’s (IGC) Pakistan program and a founding member of the Centre of Economic Research in Pakistan. Dr.Cheema graduated in Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) from Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and did his PhD in Economics at Cambridge. He was a Fulbright Fellow and Visiting Scholar at the Harvard Kennedy School in 2010-11. Dr. Cheema is an internationally recognized scholar on skills and labor markets, governance and political economy.