Head of Marketing – LIONS Riyadh

Role Overview

The Head of Marketing will lead the brand, audience, and go-to-market strategy for LIONS Riyadh, establishing the Festival as one of the most important new creative industry platforms in the region and a recognized part of the global LIONS community.

What You Will Do

The individual will be responsible for creating a marketing platform that feels unmistakably LIONS – bold, intelligent, culturally connected, and creatively distinctive – while delivering measurable audience, revenue, and brand-growth objectives.

Why It Might Be a Fit

The successful candidate will understand how to build desire around a premium global brand while making it culturally relevant to Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East.

Requirements

• Significant senior-level marketing experience within major events, media, creative industries, entertainment, culture, or premium global brands.
• Proven track record of launching, repositioning, or scaling brands in competitive markets.
• Experience developing and delivering integrated marketing campaigns across paid, owned, earned, digital, social, and CRM channels.
• Experience building brand awareness, audience demand, and commercial growth across multiple audience segments.
• Strong experience managing agencies, partners, budgets, and cross-functional marketing teams.
• Experience in a start-up environment and/or scaling a new business is desirable.
• Experience marketing to international as well as regional audiences is highly desirable.
• Experience within the creative, advertising, marketing, media, or cultural sectors would be a strong advantage.
• Middle East experience, particularly Saudi Arabia or the GCC, is desirable.
• Good written and oral communication skills in both Arabic and English is essential.
• Excellent quantitative skills.
• Excellent Excel, PowerPoint, and financial modelling skills.
• Strong analytical and presentation skills.
• Good attention to detail and accuracy.
• Self-starter with proactive nature, and ability to work autonomously.
• Experience using SAP, TM1 (IBM), and/or Oracle would be advantageous.
• Highly collaborative.
• Thrives on constant change.
• Strong creative judgement with the ability to recognise and develop standout brand ideas.
• Excellent understanding of brand positioning, audience development, and premium marketing.
• Ability to balance creativity with commercial performance and measurable results.
• Strong understanding of digital, social, CRM, and data-led marketing.
• Ability to work confidently with senior stakeholders, global partners, agencies, and creative teams.
• Strong cultural awareness and sensitivity to both Saudi/regional audiences and international markets.
• A genuine interest in creativity, marketing, media, culture, and emerging industry trends.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced launch environment with high expectations and evolving priorities.
• Middle East experience (desirable)
• Relevant sector experience (desirable)

Benefits

• Medical Insurance for individual and family
• Annual leave – 28 days
• Remote working on Sundays
• Working anywhere – 2 months every year
• School fees contribution, 40,000 SAR per child per year (up to a max of three children)
• Residency visa including yearly dependent fees
• Individual annual flight allowance for expats
• Paid flight to Riyadh – individual and family
• 30 days accommodation or suitable serviced apartment from arrival date or a one-off payment of SAR 5,000
• Up to SAR 2,500 reimbursement of shipping goods/excess baggage costs
• Paid flight home for individual and end-of-service gratuity payment when leaving the company (if applicable)

Tagged as: Excel, Financial Modeling