Festival Director – Dubai Lynx & Athar Saudi Festival

About the role

Motivate Media Group is looking for a Festival Director to lead both the Dubai Lynx and Athar Saudi Festival of Creativity. The role will shape the strategic direction, drive commercial growth and ensure world‑class delivery of these flagship MENA events.

Key responsibilities

• Develop and implement long‑term strategies for both festivals to achieve growth, profitability and premium attendee experience.
• Generate and manage all commercial revenue streams, including sponsorship, delegate sales, awards entries and new business opportunities.
• Build and nurture relationships with industry leaders, partners, sponsors and stakeholders across the region.
• Oversee the awards programme development, ensuring relevance to current industry trends.
• Lead the end‑to‑end planning and execution of festival programmes, from concept through delivery.
• Curate high‑quality content that showcases emerging trends and thought leadership.
• Manage budgets, forecast revenue and maintain strong commercial performance.
• Negotiate with venues, suppliers and partners to optimise costs while preserving premium quality.
• Lead, develop and inspire a multidisciplinary team and collaborate with international and regional partners.

Required profile

• Minimum 10 years of experience leading large‑scale events, conferences or festivals.
• Proven record of driving commercial success through sponsorship, delegate sales and awards revenue.
• Deep knowledge of the advertising, media, marketing or creative communications sectors.
• Experience managing cross‑functional, geographically dispersed teams.
• Strong commercial awareness, negotiation and stakeholder‑management capabilities.

Required skills

• Event management systems
• Microsoft Office