People Strategy & Engagement
For more than 20 years, I have helped some of the UAE's leading financial institutions transform employee experiences, strengthen organizational culture, and deliver measurable customer and business outcomes.
"Great customer experiences are built by engaged people, strong cultures, and intentional leadership."
A belief system that has guided two decades of transformation across some of the UAE's most iconic banking brands.
Twenty years ago, I walked into a bank as a young woman balancing her first full-time role with evening degree classes at the University of Wales. I didn't have a roadmap for a career in banking, let alone one focused on people, culture, and experience. What I had was just drive, curiosity, and a deep belief that people and their experiences are the heartbeat of any great organisation. What followed was a two-decade journey that took me from Reconciliation Specialist to Associate Vice President, across Emirates NBD, Tanfeeth, and now DIB, shaping cultures, building people-first systems, and leading transformation at scale.
Today, as Head of People Experience & Engagement at Dubai Islamic Bank, I lead the design and governance of the bank's people experience agenda. My role spans employee engagement, wellbeing, diversity and inclusion, recognition, culture activation, employer value proposition, and the Social pillar of ESG.
I am passionate about creating environments where people feel connected to purpose, empowered to perform, and inspired to contribute their best. By aligning employee experience with organizational priorities, I help build cultures that strengthen engagement, elevate customer experiences, and support sustainable business performance.
Beyond the professional journey, I am a proud mother of two. One of the most defining experiences of my life was welcoming my son into the world at just 24 weeks. His resilience taught me the true meaning of hope, perseverance, and strength.
That experience shaped me into a more empathetic leader, a deeper listener, and someone who believes that behind every role, title, and organization is a human story that deserves to be understood and valued.
Every strategy, programme, and framework begins and ends with the humans it serves.
Cultures don't happen by accident. They are architected, intentionally and consistently.
Individual moments matter. But the real measure of leadership is how far the ripple travels.
Five programmes built from scratch that changed how employees show up, how organisations learn, and how cultures endure.
Transformed an internal campaign into a landmark annual event, expanding participation from 250 employees to 16,000+ across four brands and seven international markets.
250 → 16,000+ participantsLaunched a group-wide employee advocacy programme that channelled authentic frontline voices to rebuild brand trust following periods of negative customer feedback.
Group-wide employee advocacyDesigned and launched a digital learning platform that reduced onboarding from 6–7 days to 2 hours, saving the equivalent of 16 full-time employees in annual training costs.
60% reduction in training timeTranslated Emirates NBD's group vision, purpose, and values into an award-winning engagement framework adopted across all brands — recognised with the Emerald GEMS Award.
Emerald GEMS Award 2022Set up the Knowledge Office function based on organisational need, creating a centralised capability for knowledge management, insight sharing, and continuous learning across teams.
Centralised knowledge capabilityToday, my focus is on building integrated people experience ecosystems that connect culture, wellbeing, inclusion, leadership and employee engagement to business outcomes. I am particularly passionate about establishing governance models that strengthen organisational behaviours, elevate employee experiences and create sustainable impact for employees, customers and the business.
Establish and lead the People Experience & Engagement function, bringing together engagement, wellbeing, DEI, recognition, EVP, culture activation, and ESG into a unified strategy designed to strengthen employee experience and organisational performance.
Leading the development and governance of the organisation's EVP to ensure the employee experience reflects the bank's purpose, values, culture, and future talent ambitions.
Leading diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives that create a more inclusive workplace while supporting engagement, belonging, and long-term talent sustainability.
Serving as HR lead for the Social pillar of ESG, aligning people, wellbeing, inclusion, and community impact initiatives with broader organisational sustainability goals.
Designing governance mechanisms that align culture, leadership behaviours, employee experience, and business outcomes to ensure sustainable organisational impact.
Transforming wellbeing from isolated initiatives into a strategic pillar that supports employee engagement, resilience, productivity, and performance.
Led award-winning customer experience initiatives that strengthened customer centricity, increased employee participation, and embedded experience-led thinking across the organisation.
Creating employee advocacy initiatives that increase engagement, strengthen pride, and amplify authentic employer brand storytelling.
A progression from banking operations to enterprise people leadership, built one meaningful role at a time.
My career has been shaped by a belief that meaningful transformation happens when people, culture, and customer experience work together. Over two decades, I have progressed from operational roles into enterprise leadership positions, leading initiatives that have strengthened engagement, improved experiences, and delivered measurable business impact.
University of Wales, Dubai Campus
2003 – 2007 · Evening study alongside full-time role
National Bank of Dubai
2005 – 2008
Began a banking career in operations and reconciliation, building the analytical discipline that would underpin two decades of transformation work.
Emirates NBD
2008 – 2013 · 5 years
Took on project management responsibilities within the bank, expanding scope and developing stakeholder engagement skills across operational units.
Tanfeeth (Emirates NBD Group)
2013 – 2017 · 4 years
Led the Learning & Development function, launching the Tanfeeth University digital platform and Customer Service Academy. Reduced training time by 60% and improved SLAs by 40%.
New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD)
2015 – 2016
Emirates NBD — Group Customer Experience
2017 – 2020 · 3 years
Orchestrated a cultural transformation aligned with the TOP Service Model. Expanded CX Month from 4,000 to 16,000+ employees and pioneered real-time service performance dashboards.
INSEAD
November 2019
Emirates NBD — Group Customer Experience
2020 – 2026 · 6 years
Led enterprise-wide CX transformation impacting 15,000+ employees across four brands and seven markets. Built the CODE values framework, One-Stop CX Knowledge Hub, and incentive performance frameworks. Multiple International CX Awards (Forrester) and Emerald GEMS Award.
Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB)
May 2026 – Present
Architecting the people experience agenda for one of the UAE's most prominent Islamic banks. Leading the design and governance of DIB's enterprise-wide Employee Value Proposition (EVP) — building a unified framework that weaves engagement, wellbeing, inclusion, and recognition into a single, coherent employee experience. Serves as the bank's HR lead for the Social (S) pillar of the ESG framework, translating corporate commitments into meaningful people programmes. Trusted advisor to senior leadership on culture transformation, workforce engagement trends, and experience metrics — coaching leaders on empathy, communication, and the conditions that make people truly thrive.
Recognised by global and regional bodies for sustained impact in customer experience and organisational culture.
2018 · 2019 · 2021 · 2023 · 2024
Forrester · Gulf CX Awards · Euromoney
2022
Emirates NBD · Vision, Purpose & Values
2022
Forrester · Leading with Customer Obsession
Multiple Years
Association for Talent Development · Tanfeeth University
Designing recognition experiences that inspire, celebrate excellence, and leave a lasting impression on the people who deserve it most.
The first CX recognition event at Emirates NBD to bring together colleagues from across the Group — Emirates NBD, Emirates Islamic, Emirates NBD Services, and international markets in KSA and Egypt. A six-week CX drive culminated in a glamorous red-carpet evening celebrating the top 1% of CX champions: the people who bring enterprise values to life, every single day.
"From the red carpet to roaring applause — a celebration of the people who truly unlocked the CODE to CX Excellence."
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Conversations about leadership, life, and the things that shape us most profoundly.
Podcast Guest
Podcast · Personal Story
One of the most personal conversations I've ever shared. Becoming a mother to an extreme premature baby — born at just 24 weeks — was a journey of fear, faith, and ultimately, profound joy. Today, Hamoodi is a healthy, bright, curious two-year-old. Our story didn't end in fear. It blossomed into hope.
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Panel Talk
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Interview
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Occasional writings on leadership, transformation, and the future of work.
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A commitment to growth that never stopped — from evening classes alongside a first job to leadership programmes at global institutions.
University of Wales, Dubai
Marketing Specialisation · 2003 – 2007
INSEAD
Executive Programme · November 2019
New York University Abu Dhabi
2015 – 2016
Forrester
Certified · March 2022
Forrester
Certified · January 2018
CFA Society Emirates · ATD · Various
Ongoing
A personal collection of books on leadership, culture, and the human side of organisations — each one a conversation worth having.
Whether it's a conversation about people strategy, culture transformation, or the future of CX — I would love to connect.
Connect on LinkedInEight curated colour schemes — pick whatever feels right.