Conference Director

Salt Digital Recruitment; Dubai; On-site; AED 257,069 - 330,517; Full time

Job summary

Salt Digital Recruitment in Dubai is seeking a Conference Director to oversee all aspects of conferences, including agenda and speaker management. The ideal candidate will have a minimum of 5 years' experience in producing comparable events, preferably in the energy sector.

You will lead team development, liaise with stakeholders, and ensure the highest level of commercial viability for both sponsorship and delegate sales. Strong networking skills and the ability to work collaboratively with sales and marketing teams are essential.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 5 years’ experience in producing comparable events, ideally in energy.
• Ability to work with sales, marketing, and operations teams.
• Strong networking skills and well-connected.

Responsibilities

• Deliver all aspects of conferences including agenda and speaker management.
• Liaising with event partners and stakeholders.
• Researching and developing programme agendas.

Skills

Event production

Networking

Team collaboration

Market research

Job description

Job Purpose

The Conference Director is responsible for delivering all aspects of the conferences, including agenda, speaker management and relationships within the industry. In addition, they are responsible for key elements of team development, including training and improving processes. Development and management of new and existing relationships with relevant market stakeholders, including industry leaders, partner organisations, vendors and the media.

Key Responsibilities

• Programme research and development
• Speaker acquisition
• Leadership to ensure on-site delivery is executed with excellence and speaker and attendee/sponsor relationships are strengthened
• Continual assessment of regional and global market dynamics to identify opportunities for the development of conference content offerings
• Involvement in the call for papers process and session selection for technical conference
• Team development training and driving core process uptake and improvements

Key Accountabilities

• Liaising with event partners, Ministry stakeholders and committee members
• Organising and running committee meetings to determine conference themes, topics, session chairs, and speakers
• Conducting telephone and in-person research with stakeholders to develop programme agendas
• Joining SPEX calls and meetings with existing and potential clients
• Ensuring that the conference agenda is at the highest level of commercial viability for both sponsorship and delegate sales
• Recruiting leading experts, high-level industry representatives, regulators, government representatives and other relevant speakers to programme speaker faculties
• Researching and providing the strategic information required to market and sell conferences to the marketing and sales functions, including:
• detailed information on the target market both in terms of sector and geographic markets
• relevant industry associations and publications
• competitive events
• Attending events to promote the conferences, gather market intelligence, and to network with potential speakers and delegates to establish and maintain relationships pre- and post-conference
• Providing ongoing mentoring and advice across all teams to establish in-depth industry knowledge to help enable the successful execution of the agreed strategy
• Managing the call for papers process to ensure high level Technical Conferences
• Driving dmg process and correct use of dmg systems
• Developing training and succession planning for team growth

Qualifications, Experience & Skills

• Minimum of 5 years’ experience in producing comparable events (ideally with a strong focus on energy)
• Ability to work with sales, marketing and operations teams
• Well connected and a strong networker
• A team player
• Positive attitude
• Demonstrate flexibility and agility