We are looking to hire a Government Affairs Senior Manager who will be responsible for managing executive government engagements, high-level stakeholder interactions, official visits, national and international events, delegations, and protocol-sensitive activities for our client based in Abu Dhabi – which is one of the largest companies in the region.
This is a permanent role within the MD & CEO Office (Holding Company), under the Executive Affairs section, reporting directly to the VP, Government Affairs.
We are looking for a proactive and experienced government affairs professional with a strong background in executive-level government engagement, protocol management, stakeholder coordination, and strategic event delivery. You should have experience managing high-profile engagements involving CEOs and senior executives, government authorities, public-sector entities, diplomatic missions, and international delegations, ensuring all activities are professionally coordinated, protocol-compliant, and aligned with organisational priorities.
Key responsibilities:
- Manage the planning and execution of government-facing engagements involving the Group CEO, Executive Affairs Director, senior executives, government representatives, and institutional stakeholders.
- Support the VP, Government Affairs in developing and implementing the executive government engagement agenda in line with organisational priorities and CEO Office requirements.
- Coordinate national and international meetings, official visits, conferences, forums, roundtables, ceremonies, strategic events, and inbound and outbound delegation programmes.
- Develop structured engagement plans covering meeting objectives, stakeholder backgrounds, agendas, protocol requirements, briefing materials, logistics, timelines, and follow-up actions.
- Manage the executive engagement calendar, ensuring priorities, preparation requirements, dependencies, and responsibilities are clearly defined.
- Oversee the preparation and quality of executive briefing packs, stakeholder profiles, government entity profiles, talking points, key messages, background papers, agendas, and decision notes.
- Ensure the Group CEO and senior executives receive accurate, concise, and timely briefing materials ahead of high-level government meetings, official visits, and strategic engagements.
- Provide guidance on protocol requirements, executive etiquette, order of precedence, cultural considerations, stakeholder sensitivities, and appropriate representation for national and international engagements.
- Coordinate with government offices, ministries, authorities, municipalities, diplomatic missions, event organisers, protocol teams, strategic partners, and internal stakeholders to ensure seamless engagement delivery.
- Work closely with internal departments and subsidiaries to gather relevant information, project updates, data, and supporting materials required for executive meetings and events.
- Manage stakeholder communications, including meeting requests, event invitations, delegation proposals, speaking invitations, official correspondence, and follow-up letters.
- Track commitments, decisions, stakeholder requests, and action items arising from meetings, visits, delegations, and executive engagements, ensuring timely follow-up and closure.
- Prepare post-engagement summaries, action trackers, stakeholder updates, dashboards, and periodic reports for the VP, Government Affairs and Executive Affairs Director.
- Implement and maintain standard procedures, templates, checklists, briefing formats, stakeholder records, engagement trackers, and document repositories to ensure consistency, governance, and institutional knowledge.
- Manage, guide, and develop the Government Affairs Specialist, ensuring clear responsibilities, high-quality deliverables, accountability, and continuous improvement.
- Monitor engagement-related budgets and expenditure, where applicable, and support reporting on completed engagements, upcoming events, outstanding actions, and stakeholder priorities.
- Ensure all government engagement activities comply with organisational governance requirements, approval protocols, confidentiality standards, and document control procedures.
- Bachelor's degree in Public Administration, International Relations, Political Science, Business Administration, Protocol and Diplomacy, Communications, Event Management, or a related field.
- Preferably 8 years of progressive experience in government affairs, executive government engagement, protocol management, public affairs, international relations, stakeholder coordination, institutional events, or high-level executive meeting coordination.
- Preferably 3 years of supervisory or managerial experience, coordinating executive engagements, government meetings, official visits, strategic events, delegations, or protocol-sensitive stakeholder interactions.
- Demonstrated experience managing CEO-level or senior executive engagements with government authorities, public-sector entities, diplomatic missions, international representatives, or institutional stakeholders.
- Strong experience coordinating national and international meetings, official visits, conferences, forums, delegations, and high-profile events.
- Proven ability to prepare and review executive briefing packs, stakeholder profiles, talking points, agendas, official correspondence, meeting summaries, and action trackers.
- Strong understanding of government protocol, diplomatic practices, executive etiquette, cultural considerations, and stakeholder sensitivities, particularly within the UAE and international contexts.
- Experience working with government or semi-government entities, diplomatic organisations, infrastructure, utilities, environmental services, or large corporate groups is preferred.
- Strong stakeholder management, planning, coordination, communication, and organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple high-priority engagements simultaneously.
- Ability to handle confidential, time-sensitive, and high-visibility assignments with discretion, sound judgement, attention to detail, and professional maturity.
- Experience supervising team members and coordinating cross-functional stakeholders to ensure executive readiness and effective engagement delivery.
- Proficiency in preparing executive-level documents, reports, presentations, engagement trackers, and briefing materials.
- Professional certifications or executive education in protocol management, diplomatic practice, public affairs, stakeholder engagement, international relations, or event management are an advantage.
Availability:
Preference will be given to candidates who are available to join immediately or within a reasonable notice period.
We are looking for a candidate who will be able to work in the United Arab Emirates.