Executive Committee

Phil Malem

Chief Executive Officer, Serco Middle East

Phil was appointed as Chief Executive Officer, Serco Middle East in April 2019 and brings a wealth of broad industry experience, strong capabilities in strategic client engagement and successful business leadership.

Phil is responsible for business growth and delivery of the core sectors in the Middle East region which include Defence, Transport, Healthcare, Justice and Immigration and Citizen Services. In the Middle East, Serco employs more than 4,500 people across 4 countries including Iraq, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Phil joins us from Atkins where he most recently held the position of Managing Director of Engineering and Design in the Middle East & Africa (MEA). Phil has been with Atkins for 9 years, during which he also led the Transport and Infrastructure business, based in the Middle East, and previously the global Power Division.

Phil has over 25 years’ experience in industry including significant leadership and operations in the energy sector, where he was a Nuclear Site Director in the UK. 

Samantha Rowles

Director of Operations - Transport, Serco Middle East

Samantha is responsible for leading transport across the region and holds a B.A.(Honours) in Business from Nottingham Trent University. She leads a 1,200 people strong transport sector, which incorporates all contracts relating to aviation and rail. Samantha is extremely passionate about gender equality and inclusion in the workplace and also serves as the Executive Sponsor for our SercoInspire network.

Samantha has 10 years’ experience in the region and was previously Serco Middle East’s Growth Operations and Enablement Director, with a strong focus on transition and operations in the Aviation portfolio. Prior to Serco, she led teams at AECOM and Atkins and built a solid reputation for leading growth strategies across all sectors, including transportation. She is zealous about leading by example and creating high-performing teams that strive to achieve more than they thought was possible. With a focus on operations and organic growth, Samantha’s dedication to the use of technology pushes boundaries of normal business practices in the search for differentiation.

Graeme Flaws

Director of Operations – Citizen Services & Defence, Serco Middle East

Graeme Flaws is one of the longest standing leaders within the Serco Middle East business unit. Now in the role of Operations Director – Citizen Services & Defence, Graeme provides pivotal and influential management and oversight to Serco’s entire citizen services and defence business, spanning both Abu Dhabi and Dubai as well as the wider Middle East region.

Paul Bogan

Regional Director of Advisory, Serco Middle East

Paul has over 22 years of experience working in technology for both the private and public sector within the UK and most recently in the Middle East. Paul joins Serco from Atkins, where he was the Market Director for Digital & Technology and in 2017 Paul received an MBA with distinction at Hult International Business School.

The Serco Middle East strategy has a strong focus on technology and Paul will be responsible for driving this forward within the region, with a focus on Digital Asset Management, Workforce Management and use of Big Data. Paul has an excellent track record of setting up new technology-focused service lines to meet these key areas of focus and will ultimately contribute to the growth of our division.

Arshaad Kasmani

Chief Financial Officer, Serco Middle East

Arshaad Kasmani joined Serco Middle East in March 2012 as Finance Business Partner and has since progressed to his current role, Chief Financial Officer. Reporting directly to the CEO, Arshaad is responsible for directing all of Serco Middle East’s financial functions in the region, ensuring all financial transactions, polices and procedures meet the company’s business objectives.

Daniel MacGregor

Chief Growth Officer, Serco Middle East

As Chief Growth Officer, Daniel MacGregor leads the overall sales strategy of Serco Middle East’s client directors, ensuring they pursue the right clients and opportunities to effectively leverage Serco’s expertise and experience. Daniel is currently spearheading the implementation of the new Serco Middle East strategy, backed by a business poised for growth in new sectors, industries and countries.

Daniel originally joined the Serco Middle East business in February 2004 as a Market Intelligence Analyst. Since 2004, Daniel has progressed through the Serco Middle East business in a variety of roles centred around the development of strong business propositions as well as valuable, unique and enriched relationships with key private and governmental clients across the region.

Hana Kharmeh

Chief Operating Officer, Serco Middle East

Hana has 16 years of experience in the Middle East region and comes with a certified six sigma black belt. During her time at Serco Middle East, she has been recognised as a true leader in human resources that is passionate about people, continuous improvement and creating the right culture through our values.

Prior to Serco, Hana worked for the Maersk group and Kuehne + Nagel where she headed HR for several clusters that included countries such as UAE, KSA, Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt and Pakistan. She has also spent time working with, or being co-located in, several countries in Europe.

Mona Althagafi

Country Director - Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Mona is responsible for driving growth in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which includes the operational delivery of our core offering of data, asset and workforce management. She plays an integral role in establishing and growing the Citizen Services business in the Kingdom, to support Vision 2030 with a commitment to service excellence and customer experience, strengthened through Serco Middle East's ExperienceLab. 

She brings over 20+ years of local KSA experience. Her appointment to this role follows her previous position at the Ministry of Communications and Technology in Riyadh where she succesfully led the planning of the Smart Government Strategy as well as the planning and execution of the e-government programme strategy, in line with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030. 

Sarah Higgins

General Counsel, Serco Middle East

A qualified solicitor, Sarah Higgins has over 16 years of experience, including nine within the UAE in an industry leading multinational company and a FTSE 100 company. Her wealth of experience covers a variety of sectors and company structures and she is a great asset to the team.

Sarah provides legal support Serco Middle East including, but not limited to, regulatory and compliance, dispute resolution, legal and contractual support to bids, projects and mergers and acquisitions across multiple sectors and geographies. Sarah’s role also includes driving the programme of ethics across the operating division and developing and monitoring governance.