Principal Recruitment Consultant

Food People is a specialist executive search and recruitment partner to the food industry across the Middle East and Africa. We work with ambitious, growth driven businesses and place senior and executive talent that genuinely moves organisations forward.

We are known for our deep sector expertise, long term partnerships, and a consultative approach that prioritises quality, insight, and outcomes over volume and price. Our reputation has been built by recruiters who want to be the best in market, not average.

The Role

As a Principal Recruitment Consultant, you are a senior operator in the business. You own client relationships, lead complex senior mandates, and consistently deliver results at the highest level.

This is a performance driven role for someone who wants to be recognised as the go to recruiter in the food industry. You will build meaningful, trusted client partnerships, work on high value assignments, and run your desk like a business.

You are competitive with yourself, obsessed with standards, and driven by being number one.

What Success Looks Like

• Consistently meeting and exceeding monthly, quarterly, and annual revenue targets
• Building deep, trusted relationships with clients and becoming their first call for executive and csuite hires
• Growing revenue within existing and new accounts by elevating relationships from transactional to strategic
• Delivering shortlists that are commercially sharp, well assessed, and aligned to client objectives
• Being recognised internally and externally as a market leader.

Role Specific Responsibilities

• Lead end to end recruitment for senior and executive level roles across the food industry
• Proactively identify and convert new business opportunities across the MENA region
• Act as a trusted advisor, providing clients with market insight, talent intelligence, and hiring strategy
• Build and nurture a high calibre network of senior professionals, industry leaders, and decision makers
• Drive your personal brand through high quality LinkedIn content, market presence, and industry engagement in line with brand guidelines
• Lead by example in billing performance, CRM compliance, and behaviour aligned to IMPACT values
• Maintain exceptional standards across process, communication, and delivery
• Take full ownership of outcomes, pipeline, and performance.

Company Wide Responsibilities

• Develop and execute effective senior level recruitment strategies using direct sourcing, networking, and market mapping
• Conduct thorough, commercial interviews that assess capability, motivation, and cultural alignment
• Confidently manage and close candidates through offer and resignation stages
• Meet every represented candidate face to face whenever logistically possible
• Keep CRM fully up to date with accurate and well coded client, contact, and candidate information
• Apply rigour to eliminate missed opportunities and continually refine your approach
• Collaborate with the wider business to drive culture, standards, and growth
• Uphold company processes, branding, and SOPs at all times.

Key Ingredients

• Proven experience as a senior or principal level recruitment consultant
• Track record of high value placements and consistent billing performance
• Strong understanding of the food industry or adjacent sectors
• Exceptional relationship building and influencing skills
• Commercial mindset with the confidence to lead client conversations
• High energy, competitive, and driven to be the best
• Organised, disciplined, and accountable with strong attention to detail
• Motivated by outcomes, not micromanagement
• Passionate about delivering an outstanding experience to clients and candidates.

IMPACT Values

• Initiative - You think differently, act proactively, and bring fresh ideas to the table
• Memorable - You leave a lasting impression through professionalism, presence, and credibility
• Passionate - You are a true brand ambassador who genuinely cares about adding value
• Accountable - You own your commitments, results, and standards without excuses
• Consultative - You provide honest advice and build true partnerships, not transactions
• Trustworthy - You operate with integrity and consistency in every interaction

Performance, Reward, and Environment

At Food People, performance is rewarded, autonomy is trusted, and results genuinely matter.

Here is what that looks like:

• Access to a high performance and mindset coach
• Tuesday and Thursday work from anywhere
• Flexible working hours
• No threshold on commission
• Double commission once yearly target is hit
• AED 10,000 travel vouchers
• Rolex reward for top performer
• Apple tech
• LinkedIn Recruiter access
• Full AI stack to support performance

This is not about hype. It is about creating an environment where elite recruiters can perform at their best and be recognised accordingly.

If you are a recruiter who wants to raise the bar in 2026, let's talk.