Welcome to the Quantum Team João Carlos Costa

João Carlos Costa – Executive Search Partner – Africa and Middle East

Quantum Group is delighted to welcome João Carlos Costa to our growing team in the role of Partner, responsible for Executive Search for Africa and the Middle East.

Prior to joining Quantum, João served as a Partner for Africa and the Middle East at DHR Global, and Senior Search Consultant for Executives in Africa Limited, recruiting senior level executives in Africa (both North and Sub-Saharan) from the Lisbon and London offices.

We sat down with João to talk about his new role at Quantum Group.

Welcome João! Please tell us about your role at Quantum?

I specialise in Executive Search in Africa and the Middle East, and my expectation is that, with Quantum, I will be offering my potential clients the best services available on the market.

Quantum for me is something of an adventure. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while because Quantum holds huge possibilities for my region, so it’s a great opportunity to develop my chosen market in a new organization.

Why Quantum? Quantum is a young dynamic team with a great desire for growth, especially in emerging markets like Africa and the Middle East. I believe I have all the conditions to do my best here.

Could you tell us a little bit about your experience and your background?

My background is in economics, but when I discovered recruitment, I just felt it was something I wanted to do for the rest of my career. I started working in Europe and Latin America, especially Brazil. But then about 17 years ago, I started to work with Africa and it was love at first sight. With the continent, with the markets. And it’s because I believe that I can make a difference when I place a candidate there. I think these candidates help the region by achieving success in the organisations where they are placed.

Do you have any insights into trends within the African and Middle Eastern markets?

I think it’s a fantastic time for Africa and the Middle East, especially for the countries that have oil and gas, like Nigeria, South Africa, Angola and Mozambique. It has great growth potential for them. I have been in touch with many companies in these countries, and they are always looking for talent who can help to maximize the projects there.

What attracted you to this role at quantum?

It’s the capacity, the autonomy. I love it because the executive team have given me all the tools and the freedom to improve, to move, to change in the organization, and this is something I really like.

My idea is to grow my region and use my former experience to do it with the Quantum team.

What was your most challenging placement?

There have been a few, but I think the most challenging was a few years ago. The client asked us for a project director for a remote location in Africa, in the middle of nowhere. And one of the requirements was that they needed to speak several languages like Portuguese, Chinese, and English.

At the same time, they should have experience in building projects for bridges, especially in Africa or emerging markets. It was a complicated assignment, but we took it on and eventually found an outstanding candidate in Macau, in China. In the past, he had done several assignments across Africa, and coming from Macau, spoke all 3 languages.

We are so excited to see what João has in store for Quantum!

Are you recruiting in Africa or the Middle East? Contact João on JCCosta@quantumsas.com to talk about your next role or connect with him on LinkedIn.