The posting
Job Purpose
The Senior Event Lead will take full ownership of assigned events, exhibitions, conferences, brand activations, launches, corporate functions, and special projects—from the initial client brief and proposal stage through planning, production, execution, and post-event reporting.
The role requires a highly experienced event professional with strong proposal-development skills, solid operational knowledge, creative and experiential thinking, commercial awareness, team leadership capabilities, and practical knowledge of AI tools.
The successful candidate must be capable of transforming client requirements into creative, memorable, and operationally achievable experiences while delivering projects within the approved scope, budget, timeline, and quality standards.
Key Responsibilities
1. Event Leadership and Project Ownership
- Lead assigned projects from the initial brief through final delivery and project closure.
- Develop project strategies, timelines, responsibilities, operational plans, and delivery schedules.
- Lead internal project briefings and progress meetings.
- Delegate responsibilities clearly and monitor the performance of project teams.
- Coordinate the work of the design, production, procurement, AV, logistics, registration, marketing, and operations teams.
- Identify risks, missing information, delays, and operational challenges at an early stage.
- Develop practical contingency plans and ensure timely decision-making.
- Provide regular project updates to the Head of Events & Exhibitions.
- Ensure all projects are delivered according to the approved scope, budget, timeline, and quality expectations.
2. Proposal and Concept Development
- Review client briefs, tenders, RFQs, and RFPs and identify all creative, technical, operational, and commercial requirements.
- Prepare complete technical and commercial proposals.
- Develop event themes, creative concepts, guest journeys, programmes, entertainment ideas, activations, and operational solutions.
- Conduct local and international research and prepare relevant event benchmarks.
- Coordinate with creative and 3D design teams to develop:
- Mood boards and creative directions
- Key visuals and branding applications
- Event layouts and floor plans
- Stage and exhibition concepts
- Booth and activation designs
- Registration, networking, and hospitality areas
- Guest engagement and interactive experiences
- Prepare scopes of work, bills of quantities, cost estimates, supplier comparisons, and commercial quotations.
- Ensure proposals are creative, accurate, commercially viable, professionally presented, and submitted on time.
- Present concepts and proposals confidently to clients and company management.
3. Experience Design and Guest Journey
- Develop memorable, audience-focused experiences that support the client’s objectives and brand identity.
- Map the complete guest journey from invitation, arrival, parking, registration, and welcoming through participation, entertainment, networking, departure, and post-event communication.
- Design meaningful audience touchpoints across the venue, branding, content, hospitality, entertainment, technology, and staff interactions.
- Develop interactive activations, networking opportunities, photo moments, competitions, workshops, performances, gamification, and personalized experiences.
- Apply experiential storytelling to ensure that all event elements communicate one consistent concept.
- Understand different audience profiles and adapt experiences for corporate guests, VIPs, government officials, families, children, employees, and the general public.
- Ensure every proposed experience is creative, inclusive, culturally appropriate, operationally achievable, and relevant to the target audience.
- Evaluate guest engagement, client feedback, and event performance to improve future experiences.
4. AI and Event Technology
- Use AI tools to improve the quality and efficiency of:
- Tender and brief analysis
- Event research and international benchmarking
- Creative concept development
- Proposal writing and editing
- Presentation development
- Guest journey planning
- Budget reviews and cost comparisons
- Project plans, schedules, checklists, and risk assessments
- Meeting minutes, reports, and client communication
- Write clear and effective AI prompts.
- Review, fact-check, and professionally refine all AI-generated content before it is presented or submitted.
- Identify opportunities to automate repetitive departmental and project-management tasks.
- Research and recommend suitable event technologies, including:
- Digital registration systems
- Event applications
- Audience-engagement platforms
- Interactive displays and touchscreens
- Digital voting and judging systems
- Gamification solutions
- AI-powered experiences
- Data collection and reporting tools
- Ensure confidential client, supplier, financial, and company information is handled responsibly when using AI platforms.
5. Event Operations and Production
- Conduct site visits, venue inspections, technical meetings, and production briefings.
- Prepare detailed production schedules, event run sheets, floor plans, staffing plans, checklists, and contingency plans.
- Coordinate with venues, fabricators, AV companies, technology partners, caterers, entertainers, photographers, videographers, transportation providers, and other suppliers.
- Supervise fabrication, production, branding, installation, technical testing, rehearsals, live operations, dismantling, and venue handover.
- Verify that all event elements match the approved designs, measurements, materials, specifications, and quality standards.
- Lead on-site teams and manage operational changes calmly and professionally.
- Ensure the venue, stage, branding, AV, registration, hospitality, and guest areas are fully prepared before opening.
- Ensure compliance with permits, venue regulations, health and safety requirements, insurance conditions, security procedures, and client protocols.
- Conduct post-event evaluations and prepare final project reports.
6. Budget and Supplier Management
- Source suitable suppliers and obtain competitive quotations.
- Review supplier proposals, scopes, specifications, pricing, and delivery schedules.
- Negotiate costs, payment terms, and deliverables while maintaining the required quality.
- Prepare and manage detailed project budgets and cost-tracking sheets.
- Monitor purchase orders, approved variations, supplier payments, and final project costs.
- Identify cost-saving and value-engineering opportunities without compromising the guest experience or production quality.
- Maintain strong relationships with reliable local and international suppliers.
- Support the development of an updated supplier database and market-rate benchmark.
7. Client Management
- Act as the main point of contact for assigned clients and projects.
- Understand the client’s objectives, audience, expectations, budget, and success criteria.
- Translate client requirements into clear internal briefs and actionable deliverables.
- Manage client feedback, approvals, revisions, and change requests.
- Prepare meeting agendas, minutes, action lists, presentations, and progress reports.
- Communicate project risks, deadlines, required approvals, and cost implications clearly.
- Build strong client relationships and identify opportunities for repeat business and additional services.
- Represent the company professionally during meetings, presentations, site visits, and live events.
8. Team Leadership
- Guide and support event specialists, coordinators, and temporary event staff.
- Assign responsibilities according to project requirements and individual capabilities.
- Review team outputs and ensure accuracy, quality, and timely completion.
- Mentor junior team members in proposal preparation, budgeting, supplier coordination, client servicing, and event execution.
- Encourage accountability, teamwork, creativity, and clear communication.
- Support continuous improvement within the Events & Exhibitions Department.
- Contribute ideas for improving internal systems, workflows, templates, and project-management processes.
Required Experience
- Minimum of 6 years of professional experience in events, exhibitions, conferences, experiential marketing, brand activations, or a related field.
- Minimum of 2 years of experience in a senior, supervisory, or project-lead position.
- Proven experience managing projects from the initial brief through proposal preparation, production, live execution, and post-event reporting.
- Strong hands-on operational experience in event production, fabrication, branding, AV, logistics, venue coordination, and supplier management.
- Demonstrated experience preparing technical and commercial proposals, budgets, scopes of work, and client presentations.
- Experience developing guest journeys, experiential concepts, audience-engagement activities, and interactive activations.
- Experience managing multiple projects, clients, suppliers, budgets, and deadlines simultaneously.
- Experience working on corporate events, exhibitions, conferences, launches, award ceremonies, government events, public events, and VIP functions is preferred.
- Practical experience using AI tools such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Canva AI, or equivalent platforms.
- A strong portfolio of successfully delivered projects, proposals, concepts, and event experiences is required.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Event Management, Marketing, Communications, Hospitality, Business Administration, or a related field.
- Professional event-management, project-management, health and safety, or AI-related certifications are an advantage.
- Excellent written and spoken English.
- Arabic language skills are a strong advantage.
- Proficiency in Microsoft PowerPoint, Word, Excel, and project-management platforms.
- Valid driving license.
- Ability to travel and work evenings, weekends, public holidays, and extended hours when required by project schedules.
Required Skills and Competencies
- Event leadership and complete project ownership
- Technical and commercial proposal preparation
- Strong operational and production knowledge
- Experiential-event and guest-journey design
- Creative and strategic thinking
- AI literacy and digital adaptability
- Budgeting and commercial awareness
- Supplier sourcing and negotiation
- Client servicing and presentation skills
- Team leadership, delegation, and mentoring
- Strong attention to detail
- * Problem-solving and decision-making
- * Ability to perform effectively under pressure
- * Ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines
- * Excellent communication, documentation, and reporting skills
- * Professional conduct and strong personal accountability
Key Performance Indicators
Performance will be evaluated based on:
- Quality, accuracy, and success rate of submitted proposals
- Timely completion of proposals and project deliverables
- Successful delivery of events within the approved scope, budget, and timeline
- Creativity and effectiveness of proposed guest experiences
- Client satisfaction and repeat business
- Project profitability and cost control
- Quality of event production and live execution
- Effectiveness of supplier and team management
- Reduction in operational errors and last-minute issues
- Quality and completeness of project documentation
- Responsible and effective use of AI tools
- Contribution to departmental efficiency and continuous improvement
Ideal Candidate Profile
The ideal candidate is a proactive, creative, commercially aware, and highly organized event leader who can confidently manage both the development of compelling proposals and the practical delivery of complex events.
The candidate must understand that a successful event is more than a venue, stage, and branding. It is a complete experience shaped by every interaction, touchpoint, activity, and operational detail.
To apply: submit your CV and a project portfolio (2–3 short case summaries of projects you have managed) through galaxy-way.net/careers by 3 August 2026. Both are required for this position.
