Social Media Lead

VML; Dubai; Hybrid; AED 120,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading creative agency in Dubai seeks a Social Cluster Lead to oversee social campaigns for the Middle East Region. This role demands expertise in adapting global strategies to local markets, managing content from planning to deployment, and analyzing performance. Candidates should be native Arabic speakers with extensive agency experience and a strong grasp of social media analysis. The position offers a hybrid work model, emphasizing collaboration and creativity among team members.

Qualifications

• Native Arabic speaker with strong experience in the GCC.
• Proven experience in managing social media strategies.
• Extensive agency experience, ideally with client side exposure.

Responsibilities

• Drive localization and execution of social campaigns.
• Adapt global campaigns to achieve local relevance.
• Manage content development and deployment for campaigns.
• Lead analysis of campaign performance and reporting.

Skills

Political Savviness

Empathetic Leadership

Strong Communication

Campaign Management Expertise

Social Media Analysis & Measurement

Adaptability

Tools

Sprinklr

Brandwatch

Job description

About VML

VML is a leading creative company that combines brand experience, customer experience, and commerce, creating connected brands to drive growth. VML is celebrated for its innovative and human first, award-winning work for blue chip client partners including AstraZeneca, Colgate-Palmolive, Dell, Ford, Microsoft, Nestlé, The Coca-Cola Company, and Wendy's. The agency is recognized by the Forrester Wave™ Reports as a Leader among Marketing Creative and Content Service Providers, Commerce Services, Global Digital Experience Services, Global Marketing Services and, most recently, Marketing Measurement & Optimization. VML's specialist health network, VML Health, is one of the world's largest and most awarded health agencies. VML's global network is powered by 26,000+ people across 55+ markets, with principal offices in Kansas City, New York, Detroit, London, São Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore, and Sydney.

VML is a WPP agency (NYSE: WPP). For more information, please visit www.vml.com, and follow along on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.

Title: Social Cluster Lead

Location: MER (Middle East Region)

Reporting to: Social Category Director, EME

ABOUT STUDIOX

In what has been called the "the biggest advertising pitch in history," WPP was chosen to redefine the marketing and advertising model as we've known it. In partnership with TCCC, we are building a new open approach that will connect our talent, skills and client partners in a truly borderless way aimed at multiplying the power of creativity for one of the world's largest and most beloved brands.

We call our partnership approach "Open X" - it is the transformation-based marriage of WPP, the #1 global network and largest communications holding company in the world, with the iconic Fortune 100 company, Coca Cola, valued at 71 billion dollars, operating in more countries than the UN and comprised of a diverse portfolio of iconic brands such as Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Arwa, Sprite and Fanta among others.

Within Open X sits "Studio X". Studio X unites a suite of marketing capabilities into one fully integrated team of experts. Studio X uses data and technology to make our work more insightful, effective and efficient. Creativity is a proven engine of business growth but creativity must keep pace with the new marketing landscape - which demands it is more intelligent, agile and adaptable. StudioX is our answer to this marketing challenge. StudioX is fueled by intelligent, actionable data-signals and real-time insights.

Our teams are populated by a blend of brand, content and social experts: strategists & analysts, creatives & designers, producers & distributors, all committed to making the most of every media moment. We specialise in matching the right content to the right audience at the right moment; supported by best-in-class automation tools to deploy tailored assets at scale. Everything we do is purpose-built for the new marketing landscape: it's addressable and flexible, designed to reach data-informed target audiences and to evolve based on their response.

SUMMARY OF THE ROLE

The Social Cluster Lead for the Middle East Region (MER) is responsible for driving the localization, development, and execution of social campaigns and charters, ensuring local relevance, cultural appropriateness, and effective achievement of objectives. This role involves comprehensive management of social content from planning to deployment, rigorous performance analysis, and seamless coordination with internal Studio X teams and client stakeholders. The Social Cluster Lead ensures brand performance is monitored and reported, while supporting broader OU-wide social media initiatives and fostering knowledge exchange across clusters, with a strong focus on the specific market dynamics of the MER, particularly the GCC.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Campaign Localisation: Adapting global campaigns/charters to effectively achieve their objectives while maintaining local relevance and cultural appropriateness. This is done at both the strategic and content development and deployment levels alongside the various Studio X teams including Strategy, Creative, Media and Influencer.
• Campaign Development: Developing the social approach for local campaigns and charters. This is done at both the strategic and content development and deployment levels alongside the various Studio X teams including Strategy, Creative, Media and Influencer.
• Content Planning: Developing the content calendar for all campaigns and charters and acquiring feedback and approvals from the relevant various client stakeholders.
• Content Development: Preparing the content briefs for all campaigns and charters and briefing the creative team. Then, providing feedback and approving the content, before acquiring feedback and approvals from the relevant various client stakeholders.
• Content Localisation: Briefing and collaborating with the adaptation team (Hogarth) for all content adapts requirements.
• Campaign Deployment: Ensuring that the campaigns'/charters' social content is published and promoted with the support of the Media team - in line with their approved plans and schedules.
• Campaign Analysis: Leading the analysis of the campaigns'/charters' performance and generating insights and recommendation on a regular and ad-hoc basis.
• Influencer Auditing: Leading the influencer audit efforts for every campaign/charter in collaboration with the Influencer team, ensuring that the proposed influencers are both relevant to the campaign/charter and pose no brand reputation risks.
• Analysis Workload Management: Balancing the Analysis team workload between IMX and PAC requirements; ensuring that IMX requirements are given priority without neglecting PAC requirements.
• Brand Performance and Reputation Analysis: Supporting the Social Intelligence Lead in ensuring constant and regular monitoring and reporting of the brand's performance across the market; developing reports and generating insights, learnings and recommendations on a scheduled and ad-hoc basis as required.
• Ad-Hoc OU Support: Supporting the Social Category Director with OU-wide ad-hoc social media requests in partnership with the other Social and Media Cluster leads.
• OU-Wide Efforts Reporting: Supporting the Social Category Director and Social Lead with the development of monthly reports to inform the client of the work carried out monthly in the cluster and generate insights, learnings and recommendations.
• OU Knowledge Exchange: Collaborating with the other OU's Social Cluster Leads to exchange learnings and insights about campaigns and charters in the cluster.

KEY SKILLS & CAPABILITIES

• Political Savviness: Ability to expertly navigate highly complex and politically charged environments, while maintaining productive and positive relationships across a wide spectrum of various stakeholders. Understands when to push, when to pause and how to gain alignment without causing friction.
• Empathetic Leadership: Recognizes that effective people management requires emotional intelligence, trust-building and support. Capable of mentoring, motivating and guiding both direct and cross-functional team members to foster a sense of ownership, growth and accountability.
• Strong Communication: Articulate and persuasive across all forms of communication, whether in-person, on calls or in written updates. Can tailor messaging based on audience and ensures clarity of ask, rationale and outcome.
• Confidence: Brings an assured presence and well-grounded expertise to the role. Comfortable taking initiative, making strategic decisions and standing by them when challenged; balancing decisiveness with a collaborative spirit and always ready to justify approaches with sound reasoning.
• Patience: Able to remain calm and composed in the face of unrealistic demands, unclear inputs and constantly shifting timelines. Understands that progress in a multi-stakeholder environment can be slow and occasionally chaotic, while being able to maintain a solutions-oriented attitude and guiding others through ambiguity.
• Adaptability: Comfortable working within ambiguity and constantly shifting priorities, timelines and deliverables, especially across multiple markets with differing levels of maturity, professionalism and stakeholder alignment. Able to pivot between strategic tasks and hands-on execution without losing momentum or clarity of purpose.
• Mental Fortitude: Demonstrates strong resilience and emotional balance. Understands that well‑developed work can be de-prioritised due to shifting stakeholder decisions and does not allow this to impact motivation, confidence or delivery. Able to absorb setbacks without taking them personally, maintain forward momentum and model calm, constructive behaviour for the team; helping them reframe disappointment into opportunity.
• Campaign Management Expertise: Strong knowledge of end-to-end campaign planning, building, delivery and optimisation.
• Social Media Analysis & Measurement: Strong knowledge of social media analysis and measurement principles, including social media listening and monitoring.
• Tool Proficiency: Strong familiarity with social media management tools such as Sprinklr as well as social listening tools such Brandwatch. Preferably hands-on experience.
• Client-Facing Acumen: Experience managing client relationships, especially with demanding stakeholders.
• People Management: Skills in people management, especially remote/hybrid management.

EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

• Native Arabic speaker with strong experience in the GCC (especially Saudi Arabia).
• Extensive large-to-mid-sized agency experience. Ideally spent some time on client side.
• Proven experience in managing social media strategies, content, and analysis across diverse campaigns and markets.

We believe the best work happens when we're together, fostering creativity, collaboration, and connection. That's why we've adopted a hybrid approach, with teams in the office an average of four days a week. If you require accommodations or flexibility, please discuss this with the hiring team during the interview process.

WPP (VML) is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers.

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