Digital Engagement Strategist - Abu Dhabi

Horizontal Digital; United Arab Emirates; On-site; AED 120,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading digital solutions firm in the UAE is seeking a Digital Engagement Strategist to lead strategic digital initiatives across key accounts. The ideal candidate will have over 10 years of experience in digital strategy and project management, with strong skills in client engagement and collaboration. If you thrive in dynamic environments and have a passion for customer experience, we want to meet you.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in digital strategy, product, delivery, or consultancy roles.
• Proven ability to lead transformation programmes.
• Hands-on expertise in DXP & MarTech ecosystems.

Responsibilities

• Lead digital engagement across strategic accounts.
• Identify improvement opportunities on live platforms.
• Support clients in shaping go-to-market strategies.

Skills

Digital strategy

Project management

Client engagement

Agile methodologies

Communication

Collaboration

Education

Relevant degree or equivalent experience

Tools

Sitecore

Adobe

Optimizely

Acquia

LifeRay

Job description

Location & Travel

The successful candidate can be based in Abu Dhabi; however, you must attend the Dubai office twice per week.

About Horizontal Digital

We believe you’re only as good as your worst customer experience. This mantra drives us to create intuitive and empathetic digital solutions for Fortune 500 companies, fusing strategy, data, design, and technology. Our values include:

• Lock arms – forging relationships to amplify impact.
• Show hustle – anticipate opportunities and execute exceptionally.
• Embrace change – welcome new technologies and constantly anticipate what’s next.
• Elevate empathy – listen before taking action, hold ourselves to higher accountability.
• Never settle – push past easy answers to arrive at bigger, inspiring ideas.

Overview

As a Digital Engagement Strategist, you operate at strategic altitude while managing day‑to‑day delivery. Your background includes roles such as Product Manager, Digital Strategist, Project Manager, or Client Partner, and you thrive on solving real business problems, building trust with senior stakeholders, and collaborating closely with creative and technical teams.

What You’ll Do

• Lead digital engagement across strategic accounts—guiding clients through Discovery, Strategy, Design, Development, and Delivery.
• Proactively identify improvement opportunities on live platforms, ensuring evolution through a Continuous Improvement mindset.
• Translate complex business needs into phased, outcome‑led roadmaps that guide near‑term delivery and long‑term transformation.
• Act as the client’s voice internally and the product’s voice externally, ensuring every deliverable aligns with a clear product vision, prioritised roadmap, and measurable business value.
• Provide strategic direction to delivery teams, partnering with Design, Tech, and Delivery Leads to align capacity, velocity, and value.
• Support clients in shaping go‑to‑market strategies, service propositions, and business design initiatives—especially during Discovery or early‑phase engagements.
• Help shape commercial models and prioritisation trade‑offs with clients, aligning budgets, ambition, and investment phasing across multi‑stage programmes.
• Build credibility with senior stakeholders, offering a clear, structured point of view while adapting tone between corporate polish and startup hustle.
• Serve as a connector across disciplines—delivery, strategy, design, content, data, and technology—to deliver experience‑led digital transformation programmes.
• Lead workshops, stakeholder interviews, and discovery engagements to uncover goals, pain points, and opportunities.
• Work with technologists and platform specialists to determine best‑in‑class technical solutions to business problems.
• Support proposal writing, scoping, and pre‑sales activities.
• Maintain an informed POV on AI, emerging tech, composable platforms, and customer experience best practices.

Who You Are

• Hybrid thinker and doer with one foot in strategy, one in delivery.
• Confident navigating complex client relationships with a sharp commercial lens.
• Former agency professional with a history of on‑site client work and a strong professional network in the UAE.
• Collaborative across disciplines—creative, technical, strategic—and comfortable whiteboard ideation or writing a scope.
• Curious about emerging technology, passionate about customer experience, and driven by collaboration.
• Capable of pivoting between large programme structure and startup‑style initiative pace.
• Excellent communication, organisation, and presentation skills, managing complexity with clarity.
• Thrives on collaboration but knows how to take ownership and drive outcomes.

What You Bring

• ~10+ years in digital strategy, product, delivery, or consultancy roles within an agency setting.
• Proven ability to lead complex transformation programmes and Continuous Improvement initiatives.
• Strong knowledge of agile‑based and waterfall delivery models, comfortable flexing between traditional and adaptive methodologies.
• Hands‑on expertise in DXP & MarTech ecosystems and extensive experience with at least one enterprise CMS (e.g., Sitecore, Adobe, Optimizely, Acquia, LifeRay), preferably with a relevant platform certification or qualification.
• Confidence in managing senior stakeholders and leading high‑stakes conversations.
• Experience spending meaningful time on‑site with clients, comfortable with a hybrid working week of client‑side office days, agency office days, and remote work.
• Strong collaboration and communication skills, able to guide and inspire cross‑functional teams.
• Experience with service blueprints, customer journey mapping, and organisational change facilitation.
• Curiosity for AI, emerging technologies, and evolving customer experience trends.
• Preferred experience in hospitality, tourism, logistics, or transport industries.
• Two recent case studies that demonstrate your impact (to share in the interview).

Next Steps

If this sounds like you, we’d love to meet. We’re looking for smart, grounded, pragmatic strategists who want to make a difference.

The above description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.