Hilton Hotels Corporation has announced the appointment of its new Vice President of HR for the Middle East and Africa region, Caroline Stevens, based at the company’s Area headquarters in Dubai. Jean-Paul Herzog, President of Hilton Hotels in the Middle East & Africa said: “With Caroline’s appointment, our key Middle East & Africa team of Area specialists is now firmly in place. As a result of our company’s focus on growth and our new openings in the region, we have a tremendous challenge ahead to develop existing team members and recruit new people – a core element of Caroline’s role.” “The most important component of our Hilton brand is excellence in hospitality, and as such, our team members require comprehensive training and development in an environment that allows them to be open and welcoming. We are confident that Caroline’s considerable experience will allow seamless integration of new policies and programmes moving forward.” In this new role, Stevens will look after nearly 17,000 team members and will have area responsibility for Hilton’s comprehensive team member initiatives including Hilton University, an online learning and development tool that enables team members to broaden their horizons, gain knowledge and progress in their careers; Elevator, a fast-track global development programme for team members with high potential; Yassad, a counterpart to Elevator specifically for Arab team members; and Esprit, an internal team member recognition programme. “The hotel industry, particularly in Middle East & Africa offers endless and exceptional career opportunities for both locals and expatriates. Hilton’s extensive learning and development platform is second to none, and supports ongoing development for all team members,” said Stevens. A naturalised Australian citizen, Stevens brings 18 years of hotel industry experience to the position, most recently as Regional Director of HR for the Gulf with Jumeirah Group. She holds a Bachelor of Business degree from Australia’s Edith Cowan University. In addition to the HR function, Herzog’s key team is represented with Operations, Finance, Development, Technical Services, Revenue & Service Delivery, IT, PR and Customer Loyalty.