Ali Habib Executive Summary

Personal & Contact Details

Telephone+ 961 1 845 080 and + 961 3 199 480

NationalityFrench & Lebanese

Current BaseLebanon (flexible regarding location of next challenge)

LanguagesArabic (fluent), English (fluent), French (fluent)

Interests Sports, reading, computers, travel, volunteered for Lebanese Red Cross during the Lebanese Civil War

Profile & Objective

A senior international Telecoms executivewhose last role was CEO of Itisaluna in Iraq after previous positions including Chief Commercial Officer for Comium in Cote D’Ivoire and MTN in Liberia and who is now seeking a new challenge in the MENA/Sub-Saharan African regions. He would consider roles in a variety of different sectors; not exclusively in Telecoms.

His specific skills and experience include leadership, strategy, planning, operationalmanagement, marketing management, customer care, sale/business development and he is a senior manager with excellent analytical, planning and implementation skills with a proven record of starting-up, directing and completing complex commercial programs in highly regulated and competitive markets.

Speaks Arabic, English and French all fluently and is an international executive having lived or worked in Lebanon, Syria, Guinea Bissau, Nigeria, Liberia, Cote D’Ivoire and Iraq and he possesses a degree in Business Administration (International Business, Marketing & Management) from California State University.

Selected Professional Achievements

Played a key role in the launch of Syriatel which became market Leader with 55% market share from year 1. Managed 150 employees across three departments.
Led Spacetel GuineaBissau from launch to market leadership with over 50% within a year.
Increased market share in Liberia from 45% to 64% in 4 years. Led 250 employees

Career History

Itisaluna (Vtel Holdings), Iraq December 2012 to April 2013

CCO/Acting CEO

Led the company including devising and driving strategy implementation.
Managed Directors of Customer Care, Sales & Distribution, Marketing, Technical, Procurement, IT, HR and Finance.
Created annual Operating Business Plan that supported overall strategic direction.
Continuously found new opportunities to promote efficiency, increase subscriber numbers and decrease OPEX.
Followed-up on any legal issue with company lawyers.
Oversaw operations and directly managed compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.
Promoted a culture that reflected the organization’s values.
Evaluated staff performance and presented proposals for the yearly senior staff bonus to the Board.

Comium Group, Cote D’Ivoire December 2011 to December 2012

Chief Commercial Officer

Led the overall commercial activities of the operation.
Restructured the distributors’channel and implemented an innovative new commission scheme.
Managed and executed the new re-branding project, working closely with the advertisingagency
Completely restructured and expanded the call centre and implemented 24 hour service and new customer loyalty programs.

Café Blanc Restaurant, Lebanon December 2009 toDecember2011

Opened my Own Restaurant in Beirut-Franchised “Café Blanc”

MTN, Liberia February 2005 to December 2009

Chief Commercial Officer

Led Marketing, Sales and the Customer Service Departments.
Achieved a market-leading position with 61% (7 point increase since Jan 08) market share with 3 new aggressive competitors.
Maintained high ARPU by offering new product & services and attractive promotions as well as loyalty programs, new sales strategies, new continuous coverage and new commission schemes and targets for distributors.
Led opening of new Point of Services and created a branded chain of mobile shops throughout the country.
Successfully re-branded the operation to MTN
Ensured divisional commercial plans were in alignment with the overall commercial strategy of the group.
Completed the development of targeted offers to segments of the consumer and the business market covering products & services, price, promotions, terms & conditions, point of sales activities and market communication.
Developed the communication strategy and prepared market communication activities; this includedrebranding,corporate identity, pre-launch and launch campaigns and corporate PR activities covering media relations and sponsorships.

Spacetel, Guinea Bissau February 2004 to January 2005

Commercial Director/Acting General Manager

Set up a new Marketing Department.
Ensured different operational marketing planswere aligned with the overall marketing strategy of the group.
Owned the global marketing budget.
Ensured that operational Marketing Directors were completely up-to-date with the external/competitor environment in order to identify and take advantage of marketing opportunities.
Studied and proposed new products and services.
Coordinated specific marketing projects between operations and external suppliers (advertising agencies etc) and ensured they were delivered on time, budget and to the required quality standard.
Ensured that all operations applied branding guideline on all marketing items.
Coordinated with Head Office HR over recruitment, training, performance evaluation etc.
Developed a market entry strategy for new operations including targeted offers to dedicated segments – both consumer and business - covering products & services, price, promotions, terms & conditions, point of sales activities and market communication.
Developed the communication strategy and prepared market communication activities including corporate identity, pre-launch launch campaigns and corporate PR activities.

Kuwait United Company, Syria May 2002 to December 2003

Operations Director

Reorganized the internal organization and developed new and very successful sales strategies.
Created a new VR scheme for all advertising agencies which resulted of an increase in revenues of 60%.
Reorganized the Sales and FinanceDepartments and introduced new special procedures for debt collection.
Reorganized the factory with a totally new system for printing production and maintenance of panels which resulted in decreasing expenses by 51% compared to previous years.

Syriatel, Syria December 1999 to February 2002

Sales & Customer Care Manager; December 2000 to February 2002

Established the Sales Department and its various sections: direct & indirect sales, sales support, sales reps etc and built the distribution and point of sales network. Established a commission scheme and target for the main distributors. Yearly objective (75.000 subscribers)was achieved 2 months before year-end.

Customer Care Manager; December 1999 to December 2000

Established the Customer Care Department and its various sections: call center, credit control, point of service etc and prepared all related procedures before and during the launch of Syriatel.

AMH Enterprises, Nigeria 1997 to 1999

Operations Manager

Authorized distributors of leading arc-welders, electrodes and anti- corrosion paint.
Completely re-organized company structure and created marketing strategy and a new field sales team.
Improved the existing accounting system.

Mobile Liban (France Telecom), Lebanon 1995 to 1997

Roaming Manager

Education& Professional Development

BA Business Administration (International Business, Marketing & Management), California State University; 1994
Various training courses including Finance for Non-Finance Manager, GSM Technical Seminar and BT Fraud Seminar

References available on request