Head of Marketing & Communications (F&B / Hospitality)

DEAL Holdings; Dubai; On-site; AED 450,000 - 600,000; Full time

Job summary

DEAL Holdings is seeking a Head of Marketing & Public Relations to lead marketing, communications, PR, and brand activation across its diverse hospitality, F&B, wellness, retail and lifestyle businesses. You will develop integrated strategies for the corporate Group and individual brands, ensuring strong market positioning while aligning with growth plans, acquisitions and new openings.

Based in Dubai, you will drive launches, campaigns and partnerships across the UAE and international markets,

Qualifications

• Essential: Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Communications, Business Administration or related discipline.
• Minimum 10 years' marketing experience, including 5+ years in a senior leadership role.
• Multi-brand hospitality, lifestyle, retail or F&B experience across locations.
• GCC experience preferred; international launch exposure advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement Group Marketing & PR strategy aligned to growth objectives.
• Lead pre-opening campaigns, brand activation, PR and customer engagement for new concepts.
• Oversee launches, activations, and market-entry across UAE and international markets.
• Manage budgets, agency relationships and KPI-driven marketing ROI.
• Lead and develop a high-performance Marketing & PR team.

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Marketing, Communications, Business Administration or related discipline

Job description

About The Role

DEAL Holdings is seeking a Head of Marketing & Public Relations to lead marketing, communications, PR and brand activation across our diverse portfolio of hospitality, F&B, wellness, retail and lifestyle businesses.

About The Role

DEAL Holdings is seeking a Head of Marketing & Public Relations to lead marketing, communications, PR and brand activation across our diverse portfolio of hospitality, F&B, wellness, retail and lifestyle businesses.

You will develop and deliver integrated marketing strategies for the corporate Group, individual brands and operating locations - ensuring each holds a distinct market position while aligning with DEAL Holdings' vision, commercial objectives and growth strategy.

Working closely with the Head of PMO & Brand Activations, Head of Brand Development and the Executive Leadership Team, you will lead all pre-opening marketing, launch campaigns, brand activations, PR and customer engagement initiatives for new concepts, new locations, refurbishments, repositioning projects, acquisitions and strategic partnerships.

This role manages simultaneous programmes across multiple brands and sites, ensuring every project launches on time, on budget and with maximum commercial impact - supporting our continued expansion across the UAE, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and selected international markets.

As custodian of brand reputation, you will ensure every customer touchpoint consistently reflects the quality, values and positioning of DEAL Holdings and its portfolio.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Develop and implement the Group Marketing & PR strategy, aligned to commercial objectives and growth plans.
• Prepare annual marketing strategies and budgets across all brands.
• Build long-term brand positioning and identify opportunities to grow market share and customer acquisition.
• Support acquisitions, new brand launches and market-entry strategies.
• Drive innovation across marketing, customer engagement and communications.
• Measure marketing effectiveness and continuously improve ROI.

Corporate Marketing & PR

• Execute the corporate marketing strategy and build the Group's reputation and leadership profile.
• Develop corporate communications, presentations and investment collateral.
• Manage Group PR, executive communications, press releases and corporate announcements.
• Drive employer branding and manage corporate social media.
• Coordinate participation in industry events and conferences.
• Develop crisis communication plans and protect Group reputation.

Brand Marketing

• Develop individual strategies for each Group-owned and international brand.
• Maintain each brand's positioning while ensuring Group alignment.
• Oversee annual marketing calendars, seasonal campaigns and promotions.
• Manage loyalty and CRM programmes and drive customer acquisition and retention.
• Coordinate cross-brand marketing opportunities and ensure consistency across every touchpoint.

Multi-Brand & Multi-Site Portfolio

• Manage marketing performance across Group-owned brands, international licensed brands, hospitality, F&B, wellness and retail concepts, existing and new locations, and temporary activations and pop-up concepts.
• Prioritise resources across simultaneous projects while maintaining quality and commercial focus.

Launches & Activations

• Develop launch strategies for all new brands and locations, working with the Head of PMO & Brand Activations and Head of Brand Development.
• Deliver integrated pre-opening campaigns, brand awareness campaigns prior to opening, opening events, VIP launches and media previews.
• Coordinate influencer and PR campaigns; produce pre-launch photography, video and content.
• Prepare launch budgets and critical paths aligned to project programmes.
• Ensure marketing deliverables are completed before operational handover; measure launch performance against KPIs.
• Support refurbishments, repositioning and rebranding initiatives.

Expansion & Market Activation

• Deliver market-entry strategies across existing and emerging markets.
• Support international collaborations, pop-ups and promotional partnerships.
• Adapt campaigns to local markets while maintaining Group standards.
• Manage agency relationships across multiple territories.

Public Relations

• Develop annual PR strategies and manage external agencies.
• Build media and industry relationships; secure editorial coverage across print, digital and broadcast.
• Coordinate interviews, executive profiling and award submissions.
• Monitor public perception, manage reputation and lead crisis communications.

Digital Marketing

• Lead website strategy, SEO/SEM, paid digital, Meta and Google advertising.
• Oversee social media, CRM campaigns, email marketing and database growth.
• Drive marketing automation, digital analytics and online reputation management.

Creative & Content

• Oversee campaign artwork, brand identity, photography, videography, advertising creative, social and website content, sales collateral, presentations and internal communications.
• Ensure all creative reflects the positioning of DEAL Holdings and each brand.

Commercial Marketing

• Partner with Operations and Commercial teams to grow revenue, customer frequency, average spend, reservations, occupancy, event bookings, loyalty and guest engagement.

Partnerships & Sponsorships

• Build strategic relationships with media, tourism authorities, malls, hotels, lifestyle brands, influencers and corporate partners to drive brand awareness and commercial value.

Leadership & People Development

• Lead, coach and develop the Marketing & PR team and build a high-performance culture.
• Conduct performance reviews, develop succession plans and promote cross-department collaboration.

Financial Responsibilities

Responsible for annual marketing budgets, advertising expenditure, PR retainers, agency contracts, campaign budgets, creative production budgets, event budgets, sponsorship investment and digital marketing expenditure. Monitor campaign ROI, control agency budgets, negotiate supplier contracts and produce monthly marketing performance reports.

Decision-Making Authority

Authorised to develop marketing strategies, approve campaign concepts and creative direction, select agencies, manage budgets within delegated authority and lead PR responses. Escalation required for major brand repositioning, significant unbudgeted expenditure, crisis communications, strategic partnerships and corporate reputation matters.

Knowledge

Brand Strategy; Marketing Communications; Public Relations; Digital Marketing; CRM & Loyalty; Consumer Behaviour; Hospitality Marketing; Retail Marketing; Performance Marketing; Marketing Analytics; Brand Development; Project Launch Planning.

Direct Reports

Marketing Manager; PR & Communications Manager; Digital Marketing Manager; Brand Marketing Managers; Social Media Manager; Content & Creative Manager; Graphic Designers; CRM & Loyalty Executive; Marketing Coordinators; and external marketing, PR and creative agencies.

Key Performance Indicators

• Brand: awareness growth, consistency, compliance, customer perception, share of voice.
• Marketing: campaign ROI, customer acquisition and retention, loyalty and CRM growth, website traffic, digital conversion, social engagement.
• Launch: on-schedule delivery, marketing readiness before opening, attendance targets, post-launch commercial performance.
• PR: media coverage, PR value, executive profiling, industry recognition and awards.
• Commercial: revenue growth attributable to marketing, contribution to sales, ROI, budget compliance, cost efficiency.

Qualifications

Essential: Bachelor's Degree in Marketing, Communications, Business Administration or related discipline.

Preferred: Master's Degree; CIM qualification; Digital Marketing, Google Analytics or Meta Blueprint certification.

Experience

• Minimum 10 years' marketing experience, including 5+ years in a senior leadership role.
• Multi-brand hospitality, lifestyle, retail or F&B experience across multiple locations.
• Proven track record launching new brands and venues, and managing agencies and partners.
• Corporate and consumer marketing experience; GCC experience preferred; international launch exposure advantageous.

Core Competencies

Strategic thinking, commercial acumen, executive presence, decision-making, innovation and coaching. Creative, collaborative, customer-focused, results-driven, adaptable, influential, resilient and detail-oriented.