Property Finder is pleased to announce a series of new senior appointments to its team. The company welcomes onboard a new President, Chief HR Officer, Chief of Strategy & Transformation, Chief Commercial Officer and Chief Financial Officer – a fresh new team of industry experts and professionals that will drive the UAE-based start-up to new heights, positioning it as a lighthouse tech company that creates an impact and sets the tone for the entire tech ecosystem across the region.
As the region’s leading property portal, Property Finder is committed to bringing onboard the best talent from across the globe, to employ their expertise in adding to the success of the group. With nearly 300 employees across its countries of operations, the company takes pride in bringing together top tier talent from diverse cultural and professional backgrounds under one roof to create the nerve centre of the company.
“We are extremely pleased to welcome five new members to the Property Finder family. We’ve come a long way since the company’s inception in 2007 and are excited to embark on a new journey with a fresh group of leaders from across all industries and departments that bring with them a wealth of knowledge and expertise to Property Finder.” says Michael Lahyani, CEO & Founder of Property Finder Group.
“In my opinion, the success of a startup can be measured by the quality of talent it is able to bring on board, and this has always been on the top of my agenda for Property Finder. This year has seen the appointment of five key executives, all who come from global organisations with strong leadership qualities up their sleeve. This has of course been a very proud achievement for us and is a huge testimony to the culture we have built. The latest additions to the team come from different sectors and industries, not necessarily tech, and this factor had a crucial role to play – we, as a company are keen to learn from these leaders, given their diverse backgrounds and expertise across various fields.”
Ari Kesisoglu joined the company in January 2020 as President, after serving two global technology leaders – Google for 10 years, followed by Facebook for five. A key member of the core leadership team across both these companies, Ari was responsible for setting up their MENA offices and heading their operations, bringing these teams at par with their global counterparts.
He brings with him vast experience in managing business and leading technological innovation across the market. Ari joins with the aim to take Property Finder to the next level in its journey, by driving and encouraging the team to adapt a fresh approach that will pave the way for the company to achieve its goal of becoming one of the region’s lighthouse tech startup.
Ari Kesisoglu comments, “It has been an exciting journey – my first 10 months at Property Finder have proven to be incredibly educational and insightful. Having worked at Google and Facebook for over a decade of my life, I have always been used to very structured systems that follow a rule-book almost to define each individual’s scope of work, and it is completely the opposite here. The start-up mindset allows each person to think out of their box and reach new heights, even for me – there’s always a new project and a new goal, always something more to achieve – never a dull moment, never a moment where I think I’ve hit a roadblock – the atmosphere, the people, all bubbling with new ideas for the company’s growth. I am definitely grateful to have learned all that I have at my previous roles and look forward to adapting these global operating systems and working with the incredibly talented team here at Property Finder to achieve our goals.”
Chief Financial Officer, Jakson Peters came on board in February 2020, with 20+ years of experience, leading the financial operations and business strategy across a myriad of digital organisations. Previously CFO of Catho in Brazil and Seek Asia, the leading jobs portal in South East Asia that operates in seven countries, both part of Seek Group. His prior experiences were with Daimler, Mondelez and Positivo Tecnologia, a Brazilian computer hardware market leader. Jakson joins the team with a multifaceted vision across finance and planning to accelerate the business’ growth to new heights and territories.
Jakson Peters says, “it has been an incredible nine months journey so far, 2020 has been a year of big changes in the way any business operates, and Property Finder is no exception. I am learning a lot from the exciting real estate industry and about the region, the prior eight years experience in the classified industry is helping me in this process. On top of the big opportunity considering our market position and our potential to grow I am also very impressed with the quality of our people at Property Finder”
Ozan Sayar was appointed Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer in April 2020, after finishing his tenure at Facebook where he led Facebook’s most strategic initiatives for the Middle East, Africa and Turkey region. Prior to that, he was a Senior Engagement Manager with McKinsey and Company in New York and Istanbul, advising Fortune 500 companies in their longer-term strategy and transformation journeys. With his wealth of management expertise, Ozan will now head the implementation of company initiatives and devise the strategic agenda for Property Finder’s next phase of growth and expansion.
Ozan Sayar says, “Property Finder is one of the few companies in the region that offer something really unique: an amazing opportunity to make an impact on people’s lives while serving as a lighthouse in the region as a key technology company that constantly innovates. This is exactly why I joined Property Finder, and I can say the last 6 months in the company has been nothing short of amazing! We at Property Finder are really excited about the next phase of the journey where we transform it into an entirely new level.”
Chief Human Resources Officer, Anuradha Challu comes with more than a decade of experience in consulting, forming strong business partnerships and strategic HR. Anuradha was brought on board in July 2019, prior to which, she held the role of Vice President and CHRO at PepsiCo MENA. She has over two decades of experience in leading the human resources function most of which she spent in devising and executing HR strategies to deliver business performance. She played a key role in setting up and stabilizing a new HR delivery model that impacted over 800 HR associates across 50 countries. She joins Property Finder to develop a new and improved vision and structure for the company, streamlining departments and tasks to ensure the epitome of efficiency and success.
Anuradha Challu says, “In Property Finder we have a great foundation of a visionary founder and CEO, talented leaders and a certain picture of success. Next era of growth will require us to build on this strong foundation with a sharp focus on the future. In doing so we aspire to be the talent magnet, a company that builds talent for the future, for itself and for the Region. This is the legacy we want to create.”
The latest addition to the team, Property Finder welcomes Semih Decan as Chief Commercial Officer in August 2020. Semih began his professional career Key Account and Sales Manager at Procter & Gamble and held various posts at P&G Turkey, UK and Switzerland. After P&G, Semih served as the co-leader of Turkey, Middle East and Africa Consumer Goods, Retail and Consumer Health Practices at McKinsey&Company as Associate Partner. Prior to Property Finder, Semih was the Chief Executive Officer at Eczacıbaşı Consumer Goods, a regional FMCG giant based out of Turkey. Semih brings his knowledge and experience from having worked across a multitude of global companies to align the company’s commercial strategies to support and accelerate its journey to become the region’s leader in prop-tech.
Semih Decan says, “In my short time at Property Finder, I’ve had the privilege of seeing, first-hand, the results of a highly talented and committed team who are focused on continually increasing the value we deliver to our customers.”
Having launched in 2007, Property Finder has come a long way with its recent funding of $120 million from US equity firm General Atlantic in 2018. With the new appointments to the C-suite, the company hopes to further expand its market penetration across its existing countries of operations. Property Finder currently stands as a leader in prop-tech and the new management team will aid its journey to becoming a lighthouse tech company that will have a lasting impact on the entire tech ecosystem in our geography.
