​YaYaqoubVideoPlayen.jpg

Academic Qualifications:

Diploma of Commerce / Commerce in Dubai 1979/80 – Dubai Commercial High School

Diploma of Tourism and Travel / Skyline University College, Sharjah

Career:

  • Director of Security – Dubai Metro 2010-2013
  • Director of Emiratization – Dubai Metro 2014-2016
  • Director of Strategic Partners and Relations – Dubai Metro 2017 to date

Experience:

  • Director of Protocol and Investment Management at Al Faraa Real Estate Group 2009-2010
  • General Manager of AAA Real Estate Group 2007-2009
  • General Manager of Promos Contracting Co. – Dubai 2000-2007
  • Ministry of Defense – Operations – Dubai 1982-2000
  • Dubai Police – Traffic Transactions Auditor 1978-1982
  • Director of Stores of the United Arab Emirates Catering Company / Al Khan branch 1977-1978

Achievements & Participations:

  • Participation in the development sessions of strategies of some sectors in the State.
  • Develop a corporate strategy in line with the general strategy of the State in the same field.
  • General supervision of the writing and presentation of training courses on television and theater through the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority.
  • Participation in the television and drama writing of some works published by the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority.
  • Participation in the preparation and organization of the Dubai Shopping Festival.
  • Participation in the activities of the Dubai Culture and Arts Society.
  • Effective participation in all exhibitions and events 2011.
  • Participation in the celebration of World Health Day 1993 – Ministry of Health – Dubai Medical Department.
  • Supervision of the program of theater courses in the year of the Dubai Cultural Council 2006.
  • Participation in the celebration of World Health Day – Dubai Medical Department – Ministry of Health 1993.
  • Participation in the second Youth Festival of the Theater – General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council 1987.

Memberships:

Vice President and founding member of Dubai Folk Theatre.

Founding member and vice president of the Takaful Fund for the Members of the Theatrical Association.

Executive Director of Takaful Media Production Corporation.

Founding member of the Theater Society.

Expertise:

  • Writer, critic and columnist.
  • Management and production of television plays and series.
  • Writing television and radio plays (12) play.
  • Writing radio series (10) series, notably the series "Diary of Pomheus" 360 episodes.
  • Writing short films and television series.
  • Cooperation with local and Gulf television.

Skills & Tasks:

  • Skills and tasks of information systems.
  • Leadership, planning, organization and decision-making skills.
  • Organizational skills, time management and crisis management.
  • Communication skills, team leadership, and diplomatic, administrative and scientific skills.
  • The skill of managing brainstorming sessions, and qualifying and developing staff in administrative development units.
  • Management of business services centers, and organization and management of international auctions.
  • Management of the coordination and distribution of aid and government goods.

Certificates & Medals:

  • Honor for participation in relief operations for the refugees of Kosovo with the Red Crescent in 1998 by Her Highness Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak
  • The Second Class Service Medal – His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
  • The Second Class Service Medal – His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
  • Emiratization Award for Best GCC Localization Company 2016 – Sarko – Dubai Metro

Tell Us About Your Start

I was the oldest of my brothers … My father died while we were young ... Therefore, I had to leave school at an early age to work and help my family. After our life became a bit better, I saw that there is only room to go back to study if I want to achieve part of my ambitions and dreams. I got a Commercial Diploma and then traveled to Cairo to complete my studies and joined the University of Ain Shams – Faculty of Foreign Trade. However, under special circumstances I returned before completing my studies. I was unable to travel again to complete the study. I tried to get over this by applying at the Skyline Institute (currently Skyline University College) from which I got a Diploma in Travel and Tourism. During that time, I took several specialized courses in several fields to help me achieve my goals and ambitions.

In your professional career, you can find two different career paths; one relating to the government professional work and the other relating to the artistic work, including diversity between theater, television and radio … What is the secret of this mix?

My work in a relatively early age and as a result of the conditions that led to my retirement early. I thought that the retirement is a good thing but with time I discovered that it is not so and that the age is very early for this break. From my point of view, early retirement without a plan leads the person to unknown future, and due to the nature of my open personality, my aspirations were greater than that. Therefore, I worked to exploit the skills of media, literary and artistic that I have since I was young, and I contributed by my writings in journalism, television, radio and theater works. This path started to serve me to return to complete the first career path in the private sector again and then I went through the two paths simultaneously.

We want to take advantage of your experience in moving from government work to working in the private sector … What are the main challenges you faced in this transition?

There are many challenges to work in the private sector where you have to prove your presence and entitlement to where you are. This requires more self-learning, training, development of your abilities, and new skills if you want to develop and get higher positions. The environment of private work is entirely different from the environment of government work, where the diversity of the nationalities of workers, which requires the employee to have a variety of skills especially if he has to successfully lead a team of employees of different cultures.

If you want to send a message to the UAE youth of the future, what will you say?

I say to every young man, "leave a fingerprint" in your field, let people talk about it, and talk about your achievements because it is the only thing that will remain when you leave where it will remain to indicate your presence in this place.

You assumed some leadership positions … How did you lead?

If you are a leader in any field, it is important to identify your human resources requirements to achieve your business objectives and choose them carefully. Hence, it is important to choose, recruit and put the right man in the right place, and take care of the training processes so that the employee is aware of every new thing in his field, and then address the problems that arise during the work, take the necessary guarantees to prevent recurrence, listen to the reasons for resignations of employees to avoid them, use all forms of motivational materials at work and comply with work ethics and protocols. I can say that thanks to such strategies, I have managed to lead more than 300 security employees on the Red Line in 29 passenger stations with a capacity of 300,000 passengers per day, which qualified me to receive several awards for my leadership of security employees from 2010 to 2013.