HOLDINGS (ADGM)
Senior Advisor, UAE Government & Institutional Affairs
Blackswan Holdings Limited (ADGM)
salem.belyouha@gmail.com
+971 50 770 0994
Salem Al Muhairi is a senior Emirati public-sector executive whose career spans nearly two decades inside the United Arab Emirates Prime Minister's Office at the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs, where he has shaped the federal architecture for government service excellence, customer-experience standards and institutional innovation across UAE federal government. He brings to Blackswan a rare combination of senior public-sector access and federal-level institutional expertise, anchored by a deep network across UAE government, ministries and the institutional decision-makers that surround them.
Background
Mr. Al Muhairi began his career in 2006 at Dubai World Trade Centre as Associate Project Manager, where he led business-development innovation, the research and planning of new conventions, and the introduction of project-management discipline across the organisation. In 2007 he joined the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) in Dubai as Project Manager, where he developed the authority's strategic outlook, defined the mission of each of its sectors, established its Project Management Office, and led the development of a vocational-studies strategy and a “Green Strategy” for schools focused on innovative energy management.
In 2009, Mr. Al Muhairi joined the Prime Minister's Office at the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs as Director of the Government Services Assessment Department — a role he held for sixteen years. In that capacity, he conceived and implemented the Federal Level Star Rating Program and led the development of the Emirates Government Service Excellence standards, which were subsequently expanded across the wider Arabic-speaking world. He authored the Manual on the Global Star Rating System for Services, the Service Delivery Improvement Manual, the Service Quality Manual and the Unified Customer Charter Manual; led the federal mystery-shopping programme; and contributed to the 2021–2025 UAE Service Strategy and to the criteria for the Zero Government Bureaucracy initiative. His remit covered all customer touchpoints — service centres, websites, applications and call centres — together with the development of federal capability through programmes, training manuals and white papers commissioned by the Director General of the PMO.
In January 2025, Mr. Al Muhairi was appointed Director of the Community Engagement Department within the same Prime Minister's Office, where he leads community-engagement and customer-insight initiatives in support of citizen-centric service delivery and provides strategic recommendations to federal leadership based on community sentiment and customer feedback.
Education & Credentials
- Executive Leaders Programme — UAE Government Leadership Programme, Ministry of Cabinet Affairs and the Future (2018)
- Public Sector Innovation Diploma — Mohammed Bin Rashid Centre for Government Innovation, joint programme with the University of Cambridge (2016)
- Mohammed Bin Rashid Elite Leadership Programme — joint programme by INSEAD and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, NUS Singapore (2007–2008)
- MSc, Engineering Management — University of Technology, Sydney (2005)
- BEng (Hons), Mechatronics Engineering — London South Bank University (2003–2004)
- Higher Diploma, Applied Electronics and Communication Engineering — Higher Colleges of Technology, Dubai Men's College (1999–2003)
Languages
Arabic (native) · English (fluent)