Samuel Garcia- Cebadera

Senior Director - HR at Colgate - Palmolive

Speaker

Samuel Garcia-Cebadera is a senior HR leader with over 18 years of experience working across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Throughout his career, he has led human resources strategy for large, multicultural organisations, focusing on Talent Management, Total Rewards, Organisational Development, and major Transformation projects.

Currently based in Dubai, Samuel is the Senior Director of Human Resources for MENA & French Overseas Territories in Colgate-Palmolive, managing HR for 30+ countries. He partners closely with leadership to shape people strategies, improve performance, and drive organisational change.

His previous roles include HR Director in Basel, where he oversaw HR for European and Africa/Eurasia headquarters, and Interim HR Director in Johannesburg, where he restructured HR operations across Sub-Saharan Africa. Earlier in his career, he held different HR roles in Madrid, Switzerland, and Dubai, developing and implementing regional compensation strategies and leading cross-border talent initiatives.

Samuel began his career in HR as a Total Rewards Specialist at Kellogg's and after two years, he began working in HR consulting with Korn Ferry (Hay Group), managing projects across Spain, Italy, U.K. and the Gulf region for clients in FMCG, energy, and industrial sectors for eight years.

He holds a degree in Economics from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and studied in Belgium under the Erasmus program. Samuel brings a global outlook, strong business alignment, and a collaborative leadership style to every role.