About Reiss Gregory

Introduction

I am half British, half Vincentian, from London. I came to Dubai to expand my professional and personal life experience and to learn Middle Eastern culture. I’m a huge advocate for living a life that gives you good stories to tell at the dinner table, and for having as few “what ifs” as possible. I aim to see the good or the lesson in any situation life presents me with.

My family and friends are deeply important to me. All of my closest friends, bar a few special late appearances, are the same people I went to primary and secondary school with. This translates into my values as an executive recruiter: create partnerships, balance your gives and your takes, share what you have to give, and learn from those you need to learn from. I see little difference in how I view international recruitment, as you are responsible for supporting people’s livelihoods and, in many cases, the next chapter for entire families.

Expertise

Weirdly, my 13 and a half years in my corporate career tie directly to where I am today. I started as a finance professional working in a retail and manufacturing business that was acquired by a Saudi Arabian retail group. I did this for four years before transitioning into recruitment, driven by a desire to add more human interaction into my day-to-day work.

I started in recruitment within a corporate functions practice and eventually built a global manufacturing industry niche team supporting multiple job functions. During this time, I placed roles across 21 countries, predominantly at Director to Group C-suite level. This ranged from growing start-ups to $80bn+ global conglomerates.

I am now dedicated to creating deep relationships with HR executives across EMEA within Aventus and look forward to building true partnerships in the GCC region.

What is your approach to executive search?

A simple personal code I stick to is not to follow the “lead”, but to follow the “need”. I tailor my service to everyone I work with and never assume I have the perfect role for someone I don’t know personally. If one person wants to move closer to family, that becomes my mission. If someone needs to exit a chaotic situation that is affecting their life, proactivity and urgency become the priority. The same applies to clients and their specific requirements.

Alongside retained search, in a highly confidential market, I place real value on proactive connection. Most VP to C-level roles are discussed at board level and within networks long before a recruiter formally hears about them. When working with executives, giving them access to connect with leaders I know, who value meeting people ahead of business change, has proven incredibly effective in uncovering unexpected and exciting opportunities.

Success Stories

I supported a global electronics manufacturer that was scaling beyond its mid-sized $7bn revenue structure, with plans to double revenue over a two to three year period. After six months of deeply understanding the organisation, my team and I placed 26 positions over 18 months to support this growth. All roles were management to group-level positions, with salaries ranging from $130,000 to $700,000.

It was personally my most enjoyable project, watching a business put an action plan in place and having the trust to play a significant part in its execution.

Fun Facts

I’m an avid cyclist and love Muay Thai. I’ve cycled London to Paris and London to Manchester, and I train Muay Thai weekly. I’m very much an “outdoors” person and love exploring on foot, switched off from technology. That said, I also have a secret gaming side. As a teenager, I was paid by a French gaming team to create YouTube gaming content and, in my spare time, ranked 500th out of a 100,000,000-player base.

Why Aventus?

I knew from the moment I met the leadership team at Aventus that it was the place I was willing to move country for. Not only was I recommended to them by friends in the market, but also by a recruiter who was supporting me and not working with them directly. If that’s not a sign of a strong reputation, I don’t know what is.

Throughout my career, I’ve worked in environments that each taught me a different element of discipline or leadership: autonomy, KPI-driven performance, freedom to work in your own way, and the importance of structure and process to enable success.

The combination of Bobby, Keon’s, and Mark’s approaches to recruitment quite literally brought together everything I’ve enjoyed across different chapters of my career into one business. Although operating across multiple verticals, the company functions as one unit and was extremely welcoming and collaborative from day one.