Marketing & Communications Director

Restore Talent Solutions; Sharjah; On-site; AED 120,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading higher education institution in Sharjah seeks a Marketing & Communications Director to provide strategic leadership across all marketing functions. The ideal candidate will lead proper branding, manage communications, and drive digital engagement while ensuring institutional alignment with academic goals. The role requires a Master's degree and over 12 years of experience in the field, with a strong focus on bilingual communication and digital marketing strategies.

Benefits

Competitive compensation package

Significant creative control

Leadership opportunities

Qualifications

• 12 – 15 years of progressive experience in marketing, communications, media, or institutional branding.
• Advanced proficiency in digital analytics tools and marketing automation platforms.
• Deep understanding of audience analytics and data-driven content optimization.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and execution of Marketing & Communications Strategy aligned with the institution's vision.
• Position the academy as a leader in teacher education and educational research.
• Oversee brand identity, messaging, and media relations across various platforms.

Skills

Digital marketing strategy

Bilingual communication (Arabic/English)

Stakeholder engagement

Team leadership

Digital analytics tools

Brand leadership

Education

Master’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Media, or related field

Tools

Marketing automation platforms

SEO/SEM tools

Job description

The Marketing & Communications Director provides strategic leadership and executive oversight across all marketing, communications, media, branding, and digital engagement functions for a premier higher education academy. The Director ensures consistent institutional messaging, strengthens the academy’s academic visibility, supports accreditation and quality processes, elevates faculty and research achievements, and drives student recruitment communication strategies.

The role also strengthens the academy’s identity as a leading institution in teacher education, education leadership, and educational research, while elevating and marketing a government-affiliated early childhood education model as a benchmark for excellence.

This role ensures alignment between communication strategy and the institution's academic, operational, and strategic priorities.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the development and execution of the institution’s Marketing & Communications Strategy, aligned with its vision, academic mission, and strategic goals.
  
• Position the academy as a regional and global leader in teacher education, educational research, professional development, and educational innovation through targeted communication and engagement initiatives.
  
• Oversee the institution's brand identity, institutional messaging, storytelling, bilingual content development, media relations, and official communications across all platforms.
  
• Direct communication support for all degree programs, short courses, accreditation processes, external reviews, research dissemination, academic events, and student recruitment campaigns.
  
• Promote academic excellence by showcasing faculty achievements, research publications, scholarly outputs, institutional partnerships, and innovation initiatives.
  
• Manage all media relations, interviews, press releases, public statements, and crisis communication planning in collaboration with senior leadership.
  
• Provide full spectrum marketing and creative support to all academic and administrative departments, including design, branding, copywriting, content development, photography, videography, studio production, podcast support, website updates, email marketing, digital campaigns, press releases, and promotional materials ensuring unified messaging, professional-quality outputs, and strong visibility.
  
• Oversee the production of bilingual (Arabic/English) content, creative direction, visual identity, photography, videography, editorial standards, and digital storytelling.
  
• Strengthen internal communications to improve faculty and staff engagement, institutional culture, operational transparency, and organizational alignment.
  
• Lead high-performance digital marketing strategies including SEO, SEM, paid ads, social media engagement, audience segmentation, analytics-driven optimization, and multi-channel campaigns.
  
• Oversee the institution's digital ecosystem, including the main website, microsites, CRM platforms, marketing automation tools, event management systems, Learning Management Systems (LMS), and emerging digital tools supporting academic, admissions, and administrative workflows.
  
• Develop, track, and report on marketing KPIs and OKRs to evaluate campaign performance, brand visibility, digital engagement, recruitment impact, and institutional reach.
  
• Produce analytics dashboards and impact reports demonstrating marketing outcomes related to student recruitment, program visibility, research reach, and stakeholder engagement.
  
• Lead innovation initiatives including the institution's official podcast, digital mini-series, livestreams, video productions, and the integration of new communication technologies such as AI-driven content, AR/VR, and micro-content formats.
  
• Direct planning and execution of major institutional events including academic conferences, summits, ceremonies, graduations, faculty forums, and community engagement initiatives.
  
• Strengthen strategic partnerships through coordinated communication and engagement strategies supporting academic alliances, government collaborations, and institutional projects.
  
• Ensure communication and branding compliance with UAE cultural, ethical, linguistic, and regulatory frameworks.
  
• Ensure all communication outputs are aligned with accreditation, regulatory, and institutional governance requirements.
  
• Establish and maintain the institution's brand governance frameworks, editorial guidelines, communication policies, and media protocols.
  
• Lead the student recruitment marketing strategy by developing targeted, high-impact campaigns that promote all academic programs, increase visibility, and drive prospective student engagement and enrollment.
  
• Plan and promote key internal events including staff recognition, wellbeing activities, and institutional gatherings to strengthen employee engagement, organizational culture, and communication.
  
• Manage departmental budgets, procurement workflows, vendor relationships, contractual deliverables, and operational planning.
  
• Work closely with Academic Affairs, Research, Student Services & Admissions, and Institutional Effectiveness to ensure communication strategies directly support academic and operational priorities.
  
• Collaborate with Shared Services departments including Human Capital, Finance, Procurement, IT & Digital Transformation, Facilities, Strategy, and Legal, to ensure unified institutional messaging and coordinated initiatives.
  
• Support the Human Capital Department in employer branding efforts to attract top faculty, researchers, and professional administrative staff.
  
• Lead, mentor, and develop multidisciplinary teams across digital, creative, events, communications, media, and public relations functions.
  
• Lead CSR and community outreach communication initiatives by promoting volunteer programs, public engagement activities, and partnerships that reflect the academy’s social impact and community commitment.
  
• Foster a culture of excellence, innovation, creativity, accountability, responsiveness, and continuous improvement.
  
• Represent the institution in media engagements, academic forums, government events, communication summits, and national education-sector networks.
  

Requirements

Qualifications & Experience:

• Master’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Media, Public Relations, or a related field.
  
• 12 – 15 years of progressive experience in marketing, communications, media, or institutional branding.
  
• Advanced proficiency in digital analytics tools, marketing automation platforms, and performance dashboards.
  
• Deep understanding of audience analytics, SEO/SEM, A/B testing, and data-driven content optimization.
  
• Proven experience leading digital marketing, brand strategy, media relations, and content production teams.
  
• Experience working with educational organizations or public-sector institutions is an advantage.
  
• Strategic mindset aligned with higher education priorities.
  
• Advanced Arabic and English (Bilingual) communication skills.
  
• Strong stakeholder and partnership engagement.
  
• Digital fluency and analytics-driven decision-making.
  
• Brand leadership and creative direction.
  
• High emotional intelligence, diplomacy, and cultural sensitivity.
  
• Team leadership, performance management, and organizational development.
  

Competitive Compensation Package along with a high-level, impactful position with significant creative control, leadership responsibility, and the chance to shape the narrative of a leading educational institution in a dynamic region. It is a role for a strategic builder and an innovative leader.