Established in the 1930s as a trading business, Al-Futtaim Group today is one of the most diversified and progressive, privately held regional businesses headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Structured into five operating divisions; automotive, financial services, real estate, retail and healthcare; employing more than 35,000 employees across more than 20 countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, Al-Futtaim Group partners with over 200 of the world's most admired and innovative brands. Al-Futtaim Groups entrepreneurship and relentless customer focus enables the organization to continue to grow and expand; responding to the changing needs of our customers within the societies in which we operate. By upholding our values of respect, excellence, collaboration and integrity; Al-Futtaim Group continues to enrich the lives and aspirations of our customers each and every day
Overview of the role: The Jobholder will be responsible for leading all Marketing activities for ACE in UAE & Qatar to develop, plan and implement marketing strategies and programs aimed at promoting the products/brands to help enhance and grow business volumes and increase brand equity and awareness.
What you will do:
Marketing Strategy

• In coordination with the Division Heads, you will be responsible for planning, developing, and implementing effective marketing and promotional strategies for all brands.
• Must aim to communicate the brand identity and innovate Marketing within each business.

Budget & Marketing calendar

• Create a Marketing calendar per brand, per market to support the local Trade Plan and seasonality of the business. In discussion with the various Heads of Finance across all businesses, you should draw a brand spending strategy keeping in mind the seasonality and trends involved in each of the businesses.
• Compile the overall budget and exercise effective budgetary control throughout the year to highlight any variances for immediate action.

Meet footfall targets

• Agree on footfall targets with the Management team per brand, per region, per store and ensure the targets are met every week through a mix of online & offline marketing channels.
• Support the E-commerce websites for ACE through website visitation and customer journey planning.

Store Support

• Collaborate with Operations Teams per brand to identify teams and stores that need focused marketing and track improvement in performance.

People/ Team Management

• Lead a team of 3 experienced and ambitious Marketing and Design colleagues encouraging free thought, learning opportunities and efficient performances

Partnership

• Effectively lead all liaisons with representatives of the various agencies across all businesses (media, social media, creative, PR, etc.) to ensure timely and efficient execution of campaigns as well as accurate reporting.

Customer Database and Loyalty

• Collaborate with the Central Retail CRM team to effectively use the brand customer database to craft, run and measure strategic campaigns.

Required Skills to be successful

• Excellent interpersonal skill and strong leadership skills
• Must have strong analytical and business acumen skills
• Must be attentive to details, resourceful, and self-motivated with the ability to work under pressure and urgency in meeting tight deadlines.
• Able to think creatively and innovatively to identify trends and challenges
• Must be able to speak and write fluently in English; Arabic is a plus
• Eagerness to collaborate and ability to work with senior executives up to Board Level

What equips you for the role:
Minimum Qualification and Knowledge: Education: Must possess at least a bachelors Degree/ Professional Degree/ Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing/ Advertising or other related field.
Minimum Experience: A minimum of 8 years of managerial experience specializing in 360 marketing channels with an understanding of emerging marketing channels. Preferably someone with experience in Retail.
Job-Specific/Technical Skills required to complete the tasks:

• Excellent in MS Office such as Excel, Word and PowerPoint
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Strong creative sense, with an eye for design and creative writing

About Al-Futtaim Retail Al-Futtaim Retail has established itself as one of the leaders in Retail across the Middle East, Africa & Asia over the past 30 years. We have developed partnerships with some of the biggest and most respected Brands in the world including IKEA, ACE and Toys R Us in the Middle East and the Inditex Group of Brands (Zara, Mango, Bershka and P&B) across Asia. We are also one of the largest Global partners of Marks and Spencers in both regions with over 75 stores offering both fashion & food options.

Most recently we have been responsible for bringing brands to the Middle East for the first time with the exciting launches of Watsons and B&Q and we aim to continue to be agile and adaptive to our markets with new launches and further development. For this to be possible we aim to recruit the best talent from all backgrounds who will continue to challenge and develop our diverse workforce which includes over 100 nationalities across 12 countries. Join us today and make a difference