On-site COO – Live Events & Production Leadership

Sound Star Events; Abu Dhabi; On-site; AED 112,000 - 134,000; Full time

Job summary

Sound Star Events in Abu Dhabi is seeking an Operations Director to lead day-to-day delivery across production, warehouse, and crew. The single point of accountability for everything between contract signature and final invoice.

Owns the operational rhythm that makes events ship on time, on budget, and safely. Reports to CEO, line-manages all HODs and the Warehouse Manager, and drives KPIs including on-time delivery, margins, and crew utilisation.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in AVL / live events operations, with 3+ in a management role.
• Deep knowledge of at least one technical discipline (audio, lighting, or video) plus broad literacy in others.
• Proven track record running multiple concurrent events with budgets up to seven figures.
• Hands-on with a major rental management platform.
• Familiar with UAE Labour Law (Federal Decree-Law 33/2021) and MOHRE compliance.
• Calm under fire; events go wrong, and the COO is who makes them right.

Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end operational workflow from sales handoff through post-event debrief.
• Line-manage all HODs and the Warehouse Manager.
• Resolve cross-departmental conflicts — particularly the sales / warehouse interface.
• Approve all sub-rentals and freelance bookings above defined thresholds.
• Own health and safety: all crew certified that gear compliant, risk assessments completed.
• Approve overtime above 3 hours per shift; review weekly OT reports.
• Run weekly production meeting; review pipeline against capacity 4-8 weeks ahead.
• Own the rental management software (Current RMS / Rentman / Flex) as system of record.
• Drive operational KPIs: on-time delivery, gear damage rate, freelance spend, crew utilisation.
• Approve weekly roster published by Logistics Coordinator every Thursday.

Skills

Operations leadership

People management

UAE labour law

Vendor management

Cross-functional collaboration

Tools

Current RMS

Rentman

Flex

Job description

Sound Star Events in Abu Dhabi is seeking an Operations Director to lead day-to-day delivery across production, warehouse, and crew. The single point of accountability for everything between contract signature and final invoice.

Owns the operational rhythm that makes events ship on time, on budget, and safely. Reports to CEO, line-manages all HODs and the Warehouse Manager, and drives KPIs including on-time delivery, margins, and crew utilisation.