65 years of combined experience.
At OKA Associates, we have a fantastic team of consultants who are passionate about helping companies to build and develop inspirational leadership teams that can accelerate profitability and create a sustainable competitive advantage.
Our consultants bring combined over sixty-five years of executive search and assessment experience at world-class search companies. They covered diverse industries as well as specific geographies and functions and bring international and local expertise and in-depth knowledge of executive talent and leadership.
OKA
Managing Director
As Managing Director of OKA Associates, OKA specializes in senior executive assignments for clients across the wide range of sectors.
Based in Istanbul and New York, he serves international clients in identifying and assessing the top leadership teams for their organizations. OKAhas so far successfully completed over 500 senior executive searches across the world and executed various executive assessment projects in Turkey, Russia, USA, and Middle East.
Previous Experience
Prior to his current role at OKA Associates, OKA was Managing Director of Russell Reynolds Associates based in the firm’s New York office. Prior to his move to New York, he started up Russell Reynolds Associates Istanbul office and had covered Turkey, Russia, South East Europe and Middle East.
Prior to joining Russell Reynolds Associates, OKA was Office Managing Director of Korn Ferry where he spent sixteen years and served. Prior to this, OKA worked as an Auditor with Ernst & Young.
Education
OKA received his BA in Economics from Bilkent University and his MBA in Human Resources Management from Cass Business School of the City University, London.
Tugce (Arac) Bilen
Partner
As Partner of OKA Associates, Tugce specializes in senior executive assignments for clients across the wide range of sectors. Based in Istanbul, she possesses more than 19 years of Executive Search and Talent Consulting experience, both at local and international levels.
Previous Experience
Prior to her current role at OKA Associates, Tugce was a Principal at Korn Ferry’s Dubai Office within Global Technology Markets with coverage across both the Middle East and North Africa. Prior her move to Dubai, Tugce was a Principal with Korn Ferry in Istanbul and leading Life Sciences, Technology and Automotive Practices for Turkey.
Tugce has also worked in London, Frankfurt and Singapore offices of Korn Ferry in the past rounding her international experience, working with international and global organizations on their senior talent needs.
Prior to joining Korn Ferry, Tugce was senior consultant for a leading human resources management consultancy firm for five years, providing executive search, volume recruitment, assessment and talent development projects across diverse sectors in Turkey. Tugce started her career as a Training Coordinator in a consultancy firm where she gained hands- on experience in the delivery of various training solutions.
Education
After graduating from German High School in Istanbul, she completed her bachelor’s degree in Psychology department of Istanbul University. During her bachelor’s degree she won a one-year scholarship at Ruhr University Bochum Germany. She then continued her M.Sc. degree in Industrial Psychology at Istanbul University and her M.A. degree in Management & Organization at Marmara University. She is fluent in English and German, and a native speaker of Turkish.
Buket Çelebiöven
Partner
Buket is a Partner of OKA Associates specialized in leadership assessment, development, and organizational strategy. Based in Istanbul, Buket brings more than 25 years of expertise in human resources with a proven track record in people and organizational development and managing cultural and organizational change initiatives in a global environment.
Previous Experience
Prior to joining OKA Associates, Buket was Chief HR Officer of Arçelik, a global consumer durables firm that offers products and services around the world with its 32,000 employees, 23 different production facilities, and sales and marketing offices in 34 countries. She managed cultural and HR Integration of DEFY-South Africa, Dawlance-Pakistan, and Singer-Bangladesh acquisitions. Additionally, she took a critical role in building the right HR strategies and teams during 10 new sales organization establishments and 2 factory investments in new geographies. During the international expansion, Arçelik had a strong organizational and cultural transformation, and employee engagement scores doubled under her leadership.
She started her career in strategic planning department and then took the HR Manager role at Beko Elektronik, where she spent 11 years with increasing responsibility. After, she served as Human Resources Coordinator within Koç Holding and led Human Resources Transformation projects to support the international expansion of Koç Group before she was assigned to Arçelik as CHRO.
Education
After graduating from Kadikoy Anadolu High School in Istanbul, she obtained her bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Istanbul Technical University. She then continued her M.Sc. degree in Engineering Management at Istanbul Technical University. In 2021 she completed Women on Boards Program at YALE University.