SOBHA REALTY - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- CHIEF PEOPLE OFFICER
- Group Chief People Officer of Sobha Group
Mr. Dr. C. Premkumar Naidu is the Group Chief People Officer of Sobha Group. He is responsible for Human Resources and Administration functions and has been instrumental in leading the change management initiatives and creating a resilience work culture. His focus is on HR Digitalization, Global HR operations, and Employer brand management. He is also responsible for leading the company's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
He brings to his role a wealth of experience spanning 30 years across a diverse range of sectors and geographies. As a veteran HR professional with expertise in strategic management and organizational development, he is keen on practicing an ethical HR approach. Prior to Sobha, he has held senior HR roles in Eicher, Tata Group, Reliance Infrastructure, Cairn Energy, Nokia Corporation, Siemens, and Dell International.
Dr C. Premkumar Naidu holds a PhD in Human Resources Management and Services from Annamalai University and an MBA from Loyola Institute of Business Administration, both in India. He has also received the Global Professional in Human Resources (GPHR) accreditation from the Human Resource Certification Institute. He is one of the Top 100 Great People Manager award winners!
Starting his career as a management trainee in 2017, Mr. Ashish Parakh advanced through the ranks to become the Chief Marketing Officer at Sobha Realty, Dubai, through a series of successes. In his current role at Sobha Realty, he leads three departments; Marketing, Sales Strategy, and Channel Relations, curating strategies and setting goals that motivate teams to succeed. He has spearheaded several successful initiatives for the company and is a strong proponent of hard work and perfectionism. In addition to maintaining high standards of operation, his leadership skills foster positive thinking, teamwork, and a strong work ethic. Among his academic accomplishments, he holds an MBA from Xavier Institute of Management in Bhubaneshwar, India, as well as a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) degree from Bhilai Institute of Technology Durg in Chhattisgarh, India.
Mr. Alfred is the Managing Director of Sobha Realty, an international luxury real estate developer that specializes in premium residential apartments, townhouses, and villas. A forward-looking leader with vast experience in the field, Francis has played diverse roles and led the company's business operations across India and the UAE for two decades. Spearheading some of Sobha Realty's most outstanding achievements, he is responsible for overseeing the company's strategic global expansion and diversification while managing, monitoring, and master planning the design and delivery of several real estate projects.
His hands-on leadership style has been instrumental in ensuring the timely delivery of projects that meet the highest standards of quality and excellence. Under his watch, Sobha has witnessed achievements and milestones that have catapulted the company into the ranks of leading real estate developers in the UAE today. An expert in the contemporary and innovative construction style, Francis paid keen attention to digitalization to propel Sobha and the real estate industry forward. Gravitating towards Contech and Proptech, Francis supports next-generation technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence, and data analytics.
He also advocates for lean manufacturing and business processes, as well as led the implementation of Sobha's backward integration model in the region. This has resulted in the vertical integrations of the company's manufacturing and services. An enthusiastic reader, Francis is self-reflective and informed and loves intellectual discussions. He encourages collaboration and critical thinking among team members to achieve shared goals.
Job Titles:
- Director of PNC Architects
James Marvin is the Director of PNC Architects. His responsibilities include leading and inspiring globally-competitive designs and ensuring timely and accurate documentation by coordinating, monitoring, reviewing, and managing all disciplines - MEP, Structure, Interior Design, Landscape Design, and Architecture.
James was educated at the University of Texas and licensed as an Architect by the State of Texas in 1986. He started his architectural practice in 1988 and ran a successful Design and Build business for 10 years before being invited to Europe by an international charity that develops orphanages and medical facilities in Eastern Europe. In his previous stints, he was associated with leading real estate players both in the UAE and the UK.
Job Titles:
- Group Chief Financial Officer
- Chartered Accountant With an All - India
Jyoti Kumar Agarwal is the Group Chief Financial Officer at Sobha Realty. With more than 22 years of experience in leadership positions, he is a seasoned finance professional with demonstrated achievements in reputed companies, such as Tata Power Renewables, JSW Group, Standard Chartered, Deutsche Bank, Franklin Templeton, and BCG in areas such as corporate strategy, treasury, accounting, tax, mergers, and acquisitions, legal, secretarial, compliance, corporate and investment banking, investment management and management consulting.
Mr. Agarwal has a proven track record in overseeing large and complex finance portfolios and has played a key role in delivering successful financial and business transformations.
In addition to holding a CFA charter holder, Mr. Agarwal is a Chartered Accountant with an all-India rank. He has been awarded various prestigious scholarships, including the DAAD Scholarship & TIL Scholarship. He also holds an MBA from IIM, Calcutta.
Mr. Manish Goenka is the Chief Sales Officer at Sobha Realty. He is a top management professional with a proven track record of delivering effective results in the real estate, automobile, FMCD, an...
Mr. Manish Goenka is the Chief Sales Officer at Sobha Realty. He is a top management professional with a proven track record of delivering effective results in the real estate, automobile, FMCD, and IT industries. Having over nineteen years of experience his core expertise lies in sales, marketing, general management, business development, business strategy, leadership, and team management. Under his dynamic leadership at Sobha, he has initiated & implemented strategy planning and execution in Sales and marketing, team management, strategic international business tie-ups with multinational channel partners, and channel management. Mr. Manish holds an MBA from ICFAI Business School in Hyderabad, India, and a Mechanical Engineering degree from DSCE in Bangalore, India.
Job Titles:
- HEAD - QUALITY & TECHNOLOGY
Mr. Olaf Wagner is a highly experienced professional in the fields of architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC). He has more than 30 years of work experience, with a Master Craftsman in Civil Construction and a BA in Architecture from Germany.
He directly reports to the Chairman in his current position as the Sobha Group's Head of Quality and Technology, where he oversees and engages in project design and implementation using an independent technical inspection regime from the developer's side, spearheaded by German Master Craftsmen, to ensure European/German Quality while utilizing internationally renowned construction productivity software.
Job Titles:
- CHAIRMAN
- FOUNDER
- Founder and Chairman of Sobha Group
Mr. PNC Menon is the Founder and Chairman of Sobha Group, a multinational real estate and construction group with diversified global interests. He has played a key role in the real estate sector for over four decades.
In Oman, he founded a turnkey interior decoration firm catering to the Middle East markets. Within a decade, his firm was a market leader and had handled prestigious and high-profile projects for the Rulers of Oman, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, and Brunei.
In 1994, Mr. PNC Menon founded Sobha Limited (India) to address the gap in superior-quality development and construction in India and, since its inception, this business has steadily grown from strength to strength (including its initial public offering in 2006 which was over-subscribed by around 126 times) and is now operating in 24 cities and 13 states across India.
As the India business continued to grow, Mr. PNC Menon began exploring international opportunities to fuel further growth and, as a result, he founded PNC Investments in 2011 to bring the "Sobha" brand to the UAE. After entering the Dubai market, Mr. Menon launched Sobha Hartland and District One. Sobha Hartland is a $4 billion luxury mixed-use development spread over 8 million square feet. District One, an $8 billion joint venture with Meydan Group, includes 1,500 ultra-luxury villas.
Job Titles:
- Co - Chairman
- Co - Chairman of Sobha Group
Mr. Ravi Menon has been newly appointed as Co-Chairman of Sobha Group, one of the fastest growing and prominent developers in Dubai, and a case study at Harvard for Backward-Integration in real estate. In this new role Ravi Menon along with his father Mr. PNC Menon, Founder and Chairman of Sobha Group, would oversee the operation of the numerous business entities under Sobha Group Dubai.
A Civil Engineering graduate with Honors from Purdue University, USA, Mr. Ravi Menon joined Sobha India in June 2004 as Director and has played a crucial role in infusing dynamism in the company and shaping the company's strategy. He was designated as the Vice Chairman of Sobha India in January 2006, and as part of Sobha India's succession planning, he became the Chairman of Sobha India in 2012.
In the nearly two decades that Mr. Ravi Menon has been in the leadership of Sobha India, his vision and perseverance have helped the company diversify product lines and enter new geographies. Under his leadership, SOBHA has strengthened its brand, known for international standards of excellence and on-time delivery.
Mr. Ravi Menon is a man of great attention to detail and is known to drive a culture of ownership and innovation within the company. He has overseen the performance of various departments in the organization - such as Design and Engineering, Project Management, Sales and Marketing, Quality, Safety and Technology, Value Engineering, and Landscaping, among others. He essayed a decisive role in the successful integration of precast technology in SOBHA's construction methodology. He also plays an influential and prominent role in augmenting the product delivery levels of the company, attaining superior standards of quality, conducting new product launches, and customer relationship management.
He has also been conferred with various awards, the most prominent of which include, ‘The Best CEO of the Year 2016' by Construction Times; ‘Young Entrepreneur of the Year' by Construction Week in 2014; ‘EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award' in 2013; the ‘Young Achievers' Award' at the Real Estate Awards 2012; and the ‘Star Realty Magnetic Young Icon' award at the Star Realty Awards 2012.
Mr. Ravi Menon, just like his father Mr. PNC Menon, shares the same passion for community development. He has often shared his vision of transforming SOBHA into an organization that lives ‘Compassionate responsibility', by actively investing time and resources for the sustainable development of society. He has taken forward the mantel of the ‘Graamasobha' community-enablement model, which was instituted by his father. This compassionate social development model includes a senior citizens' home, young mothers' (widows) home, free medical services, education, food, and clothing for underprivileged children, and social rehabilitation schemes for the poor.