A Boutique Firm Built on
Big Multinationals’ Experience
Shaped by leaders who have managed Compensation & Benefits inside Fortune 500 organisations.
Why That Experience Matters
After decades leading Compensation & Benefits inside large, complex organisations, we understand what works — and what doesn’t. We’ve tackled talent retention, morale drops, pay freezes, and rapid expansions firsthand. That experience powers every solution we craft for our clients today.
Lead Consultants
Ahlam Bakkal: Founder & Lead Advisor - Total Rewards Strategy
Ahlam Bakkal is the Founder of Bakkal Consultancy and a senior HR and Total Rewards advisor with nearly two decades of experience within Unilever, a global benchmark for people and organisational excellence. Having begun her career in Morocco, she progressed through a breadth of leadership roles spanning Compensation & Benefits, HR Business Partnering, leadership and talent development, organisational design, and enterprise-wide change management.
Based in Dubai during her later years at Unilever, she served as Regional Total Rewards Director with responsibility for 17 countries across the Middle East, Turkey, Russia, and Central Asia, supporting workforces of approximately 10,000 employees through periods of growth, transformation, and organisational change.
Ahlam established Bakkal Consultancy to bring practical, world-class HR solutions to Gulf organisations, with a strong foundation in Total Rewards, performance alignment, and organisation-wide people decisions.
Outside of her advisory work, Ahlam values early-morning runs and time spent reading on leadership and personal development.
Sajjad Parmar: Lead Expert - Compensation & Global Reward Design
Sajjad Parmar is a senior Total Rewards advisor with over two decades of experience leading reward and performance initiatives within complex, Fortune 500 organisations, including Unilever, GSK, and eBay. He has held regional and international leadership roles, overseeing the design and governance of compensation structures, incentive frameworks, and job architecture across multi-market environments.
Sajjad brings deep technical rigour and strategic oversight in compensation analytics, job evaluation, and performance-linked reward design, supporting organisations through growth, transformation, and high-stakes people decisions.
Together, Ahlam and Sajjad lead client engagements, combining strategic judgement with deep technical expertise to ensure quality, consistency, and senior oversight across all projects.
Our Compensation & Benefits Team
Bakkal Consultancy is supported by a dedicated team with deep, complementary expertise across Total Rewards disciplines.
* Market Pricing & Benchmarking Specialists
* Job Architecture & Evaluation Experts
* Incentive & Performance Pay Specialists
* Reward Analytics & Cost Modelling Experts
Experience Across Industries
Our team experience spans multinationals across various industries:
Our Core Values
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Integrity
We do what’s right for our clients and their people. Every recommendation is honest, unbiased, and in your best interest.
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Transparency
We believe in open communication and clarity. Our processes are straightforward, and we promote fairness and openness in all reward practices.
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Respect
We respect the confidentiality and trust you place in us. We value every stakeholder’s perspective and treat everyone with professionalism and courtesy.
DATA CONFIDENTIALITY
All client work is delivered under strict confidentiality and data governance standards, reflecting the sensitivity of compensation information and the trust placed in us by our clients.
Curious how our team can help solve your Compensation & Benefits challenges?