About Hunters and Skipper

Founded in Dubai in 2016 on a simple principle: leadership hiring deserves the discipline of a mission.

Sanjay Sharma, Founder of Hunters and Skipper
Our story

Hunters and Skipper was founded in 2016 by Sanjay Sharma, a former commissioned officer of the Indian Army who then spent two decades leading human resources on the client side of search across the Middle East, India and Africa. He had run people functions for international contractors, a master developer, an engineering group, a family owned distributor and a services firm, and on three landmark joint ventures.

He had seen, repeatedly, how the right leadership appointment could change a company's direction within a quarter, and how much depended on the care taken in making it.

Hunters and Skipper was built on that conviction. It is a small, founder led firm that handles each mandate the way a well run unit handles a mission: with a clear brief, a small disciplined team and personal accountability for the outcome. We take on fewer searches and go deeper into each. Ten years on, that principle has not changed.

Our vision

Shaping the future through aligned leadership.

We believe talent exists everywhere but flourishes best in a culture that celebrates diversity, works in alignment with the challenges at hand and anticipates those still to come. Our work is to find the leaders who share that vision and can shape what happens next.

Our values

Five commitments that govern every mandate.

01

We own the outcome

We take responsibility for outcomes. From shaping the brief to securing the hire, we drive the mandate with clarity, pace and accountability, so that the right leadership decision is realised.

02

We challenge to get it right

We apply independent judgement to every mandate. We challenge assumptions, interrogate the brief and refine direction, because a leadership decision deserves candid advice.

03

We drive the process

We run a structured, disciplined process with a clear cadence, decisive milestones and shared accountability, and we intervene early when alignment or quality is at risk.

04

We operate through systems

Our work is anchored in structured, proven methods that ensure consistency, depth and predictability. Outcomes depend not on individuals but on a model designed to deliver.

05

We put skin in the game

Our commercial structures are designed to align with outcomes. Through flexible models and long assurance periods, we show confidence in our work and accountability for its success.

Where we search

An executive search firm in Dubai, working across the GCC.

Hunters and Skipper is a founder led executive search and leadership advisory firm based in Dubai. We search for chief executives, board directors and C Suite leaders across the United Arab Emirates, including Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and across Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman, with reach into India, Africa, Europe and South East Asia.

We work with listed companies, family owned groups, government related entities and investor backed businesses. Where national talent programmes such as Emiratisation and Saudisation apply, qualified national leaders are built into every longlist.