With a Bachelor of Environmental Engineering from the UK Waddah is considered one of the authorities on Environment/Sustainability, Health and Safety as well as Governance and Leadership and High Reliability Organizations (HROs). He is a chartered Director with the IoD in the UK with 27 years of experience, 14 of which have been as a board director in several organizations.

Waddah holds several academic and vocational qualifications including two PG Diplomas an MSc in Environmental Sciences, an Executive MBA and a Doctorate from the University of Bradford in Governance and Leadership. He has received several awards in his career, most notably, the Rashid Prize for Scholarship Excellence in 2007 (Dubai), IEMA Sustainability Leader of the Year (UK) in 2019, Hon Diploma in OSH from NEBOSH in 2024 and Award of Council at the Energy Institute (UK) in 2025.  He is a visiting lecturer/professor for several universities based in the UAE, India and Malaysia.

He is the Hon. Charmain for the Energy Institute Middle East and served as a Council member in the Energy Institute’s Board (2019-2022). He is also the Vice-Chairman of the Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) and served as a vice chairman at the Dubai Centre for Carbon Excellence (DCCE) from 2010-2019. He is currently appointed as a Senior Director for Logistics and Marine Assurance and served in the past as Senior Director for Sustainability, Operational and Business Excellence for the ENOC Group in Dubai, UAE.

He is an advisor of several Industry Advisory Committees at universities. He represents the UAE in the International Standards Organization (ISO) Technical Committee 283 and is Chairman of the UAE National/Federal Committee for Occupational Health and Safety in the UAE, Chair, Advisory Board for the UAE Chapter of the Board Directors Institute, GCC, Hon Chairman – Energy Institute, Middle East and Chairman, Platform for Connected Leadership

His publications include various research, practitioner journal and conference papers in including 12 internationally published books. He has many technical/academic and conference papers that have been published in the past 20+ years as well. He has three articles published with the Harvard Business Review Arabia on the Connected Leadership Framework, the Role of the Boards of Directors as well as Cultural Competence.