Samer Jabr's Unexpected Career Shift to Learning and Development at PwC Middle East

The moment things shifted

In 2016, Samer Jabr made the decision to leave Lebanon and move to the United Arab Emirates to begin his professional career. He joined PwC Middle East as an Assurance Graduate, stepping into a role that represented the conventional starting point for many professionals in the firm's audit and assurance practice. For two years, he worked within this function, building foundational experience and understanding how the organization operated.

Then, in 2018, an opportunity emerged that would redirect his career in an unexpected direction. Jabr transitioned from the Assurance team to the Learning and Development function at PwC Middle East. The shift was significant—moving from client-facing audit work to an internal-facing role focused on designing and delivering employee development programmes. Rather than resisting this change, Jabr embraced it, recognizing it as a chance to grow in a different capacity within the same organization.

What they tried

Once embedded in the Learning and Development team, Jabr took on increasing responsibility. He eventually became the Tax and Legal Services L&D Lead, a position that gave him ownership over the development strategy for a specific service line within the firm. This role required him to understand not just training mechanics, but the particular needs of professionals working in tax and legal services—their skill gaps, their career aspirations, and the evolving demands of their practice areas.

The scope of his work expanded when he took the lead in organizing the LEAP programme, a two-day training event designed for Senior Associates in Abu Dhabi. The scale of the undertaking was substantial: the programme needed to accommodate 270 participants. Coordinating an event of this size required attention to logistics, content design, facilitation, and the overall participant experience. It represented a test of his ability to execute a major learning initiative while managing the complexities that come with bringing together a large cohort of professionals.

What worked, what didn't

The LEAP programme achieved a 99% satisfaction rate among participants, positioning it as one of the best-rated events at PwC Middle East during that period. This outcome was not incidental—it reflected deliberate choices about how the programme was structured, delivered, and evaluated. The high satisfaction rate suggested that Jabr and his team had succeeded in creating an experience that resonated with Senior Associates, meeting their expectations and delivering tangible value.

"No matter what career stage I was at, I received the same structured development opportunities that made me feel at home straight away." — Samer Jabr

The success of LEAP demonstrated something broader about Jabr's effectiveness in his new role. His background in assurance had given him discipline and attention to detail. His willingness to transition into L&D had positioned him to apply those skills in a different context. The programme's reception validated that the shift from assurance to learning and development, while unexpected, had been the right move for both Jabr and the organization.

What they'd tell someone else

Jabr's experience across a decade at PwC Middle East—from his arrival in 2016 through to the present—illustrates what happens when someone remains open to career paths that diverge from their initial trajectory. He did not stay confined to the role he was hired to fill. Instead, he recognized that growth sometimes requires moving sideways, taking on unfamiliar responsibilities, and building expertise in areas that were not part of the original plan.

The transition from Assurance to Learning and Development was not a lateral move in the traditional sense. It was a genuine shift in function, in daily responsibilities, and in the nature of impact. Yet Jabr's ability to adapt—to learn the principles of instructional design, programme management, and organizational development—suggests that the skills required to succeed in one area often transfer to another, provided the person is willing to invest in understanding the new landscape.

For someone considering a similar shift, Jabr's path offers a concrete example: change does not require leaving the organization. Sometimes it means looking within, identifying where your capabilities might create value in a different way, and having the confidence to pursue it. The LEAP programme's 99% satisfaction rate was not the outcome of someone reluctantly filling a new role. It was the result of someone who embraced an unexpected opportunity and committed to executing it well.