Senior Marketing Manager - LIONS Riyadh - Arabic Speaker

About the Role
This is an exciting opportunity for a Senior Marketing Manager with a strong focus on brand launch and event marketing. The Senior Marketing Manager will play a key role in launching and growing the project, translating the project proposition into high-impact campaigns that build awareness, audience demand, and long-term brand relevance. This role will work across brand, audience, digital, content, and campaign marketing, helping position the project as an essential destination for the region’s creative, marketing, and media community.

The successful candidate will combine strong strategic thinking with hands-on campaign delivery, creative judgment, and a deep understanding of how to engage different audience communities across Saudi Arabia, the GCC, and international markets. You will work closely with the Head of Marketing, Content, PR, Creative, and Commercial teams to ensure every campaign is distinctive, culturally relevant, commercially effective, and aligned with project standards.

Responsibilities:
I. Brand Launch:

• Conduct market research and analysis to understand target audiences, competitors, and market trends.
• Support the development and execution of the project brand and campaign strategy.
• Translate the project positioning into compelling audience propositions, messaging, and campaign stories.
• Craft compelling brand messages that resonate with target audiences and differentiate from competitors, including developing taglines, brand stories, and key messages.
• Ensure all marketing activity reflects the creativity, quality, and authority of the project.
• Collaborate with Creative teams and agencies to develop standout campaign concepts and assets across all channels.
• Develop high-quality content that engages target audiences and communicates the brand message, including blog posts, social media updates, videos, infographics, newsletters, lead magnets, and more.
• Utilize speakers, content, creative work, partnerships, and Festival announcements as key campaign moments.
• Track key metrics to measure brand launch success and identify areas for improvement.

II. Audience & Event Marketing Skills:

• Develop and deliver integrated marketing campaigns to attract priority audiences to the project.
• Build targeted campaigns for CMOs, creative leaders, agencies, brands, media professionals, creators, and emerging talent.
• Support audience growth strategies across Saudi Arabia, the GCC, and priority international markets.
• Deliver campaigns across paid media, social, CRM, email, digital, PR, and strategic partnerships.
• Develop audience journeys that move from awareness and engagement through to registration and ticket conversion.
• Manage marketing budgets and ensure spend is optimized against agreed objectives.
• Manage external agencies and suppliers where required.
• Work closely with PR, Content, and Partnerships to maximize the impact of key project announcements and Festival moments.
• Support onsite marketing activity and audience engagement during the project.
• Conduct post-event analysis and use insights to improve future campaigns.

III. Digital & Performance Marketing

• Own and optimize digital campaign performance across paid social, search, display, CRM, and other relevant channels.
• Use analytics and testing to improve audience acquisition, engagement, and conversion.
• Monitor the project registration and ticketing funnel and identify opportunities to improve conversion at each stage.
• Develop audience segmentation and retargeting strategies.
• Manage PPC, SEO, and digital acquisition activity where relevant.
• Use data and audience behavior to continuously improve campaign messaging, creative, and channel mix.
• Track campaign ROI and provide clear performance recommendations to the Head of Marketing.
• Manage and mentor marketing team members, providing direction and guidance against KPIs and objectives.
• Collaborate closely with other departments to ensure alignment between marketing, content, commercial, and Festival delivery.
• Partner with Commercial teams to support priority client campaigns and audience development where relevant.
• Champion creative quality, attention to detail, and high standards across all project marketing output.

IV. Leadership & Collaboration

• Manage and mentor marketing team members, providing direction and guidance against KPIs and objectives.
• Collaborate closely with the wider project team to ensure campaigns remain aligned with brand standards and positioning.
• Work with Content and PR teams to identify stories and ideas capable of generating industry conversation around the project.
• Partner with Commercial teams to support priority client campaigns and audience development where relevant.
• Champion creative quality, attention to detail, and high standards across all project marketing output.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 8–10 years of experience in marketing, with strong experience in brand building, audience marketing, or major events.
• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• Proven experience launching or growing a major brand, event, festival, media platform, or cultural proposition.
• Strong experience developing integrated campaigns across paid, owned, and earned channels.
• Strong experience in digital marketing, analytics, and campaign optimization.
• Experience managing ticketing or audience-acquisition campaigns.
• Strong knowledge of digital performance marketing, PPC, SEO, and CRM.
• Strong creative judgment with the ability to recognize effective ideas, messaging, and campaign creative.
• Excellent understanding of brand positioning, audience segmentation, and customer journeys.
• Strong written communication and storytelling skills.
• Ability to manage agencies, budgets, and multiple campaigns simultaneously.
• Confident working with senior internal and external stakeholders.
• Strong interest in creativity, advertising, media, culture, and emerging industry trends.
• Strong team management experience, motivating and developing a team to achieve marketing optimization and excellence.

Desired Experience:

• Background in large-scale events, festivals, media, entertainment, creative industries, or premium brands.
• Experience marketing to senior professional audiences as well as creators and emerging talent.
• Experience within advertising, marketing, media, or the wider creative industries is highly desirable.
• Saudi Arabia or GCC market experience is desirable.
• Experience working on international campaigns or global brands is advantageous.
• Experience with marketing automation, CMS, creator economy, and social media management platforms.
• Proficiency in Arabic language.