Rafaat has had senior roles in sales and marketing and in business development as well as in general management. Rafaat's professional services career has included working with leading brands and leading firms. Most of the projects that he was and still is involved in are of a strategic nature and take global perspectives. He has considerable experience in the US, EU, ME, Asia Pacific Region and has been making frequent business trips to India since the early 2000s .

He studied Business, majoring in marketing with specialisation in consumer behaviour, at University of Houston, Texas, USA prior to graduating with an MBA with specialisation in general management from Manchester Business School in Manchester, UK.

He regularly attends and speaks at international conferences on consulting methodologies, such as Vision in Business, and leads workshops in Portfolio Review, Planning & Optimisation, Licensing In/Out and Bio-Collaboration.