Senior Social Media and Content Lead

Senior Social Media & Content Lead | Sarya Holdings 📍 Dubai, UAE | Markets: UAE & Saudi Arabia | Full-timeSarya Holdings is looking for a senior social media leader to turn a multi-brand food & beverage portfolio into distinctive, culturally relevant and measurable social content across the UAE and Saudi Arabia.This is a hands-on leadership role. You'll own the full social system: strategy, creative direction, team, creators, collaborations, agencies and performance. You'll also stay close enough to the work to write a sharp brief, direct a shoot, improve an edit and explain the numbers behind every decision.Reporting to: Group Marketing ManagerWHAT YOU'LL OWNStrategy & Multi-Brand Structure

• Set annual and quarterly social strategy for each brand and market, covering audiences, platform roles, content territories and growth targets
• Build distinct UAE and Saudi approaches instead of duplicating one calendar, and adapt language, humour, talent and cultural references
• Design the team's operating model across several brands: roles, ownership, capacity, calendars, approvals and agency support
• Keep the portfolio consistent in quality while protecting each brand's own identity, tone and visual language
• Decide which ideas get hero production, in-house content, creator amplification or paid supportCreative Direction
• Raise the creative bar with social-first ideas, strong hooks, cinematic craft and platform-native pacing
• Write and improve briefs, scripts, captions, shot lists and edit notes, and lead priority shoots end to end
• Build recognisable content series and respond quickly to cultural moments without compromising brand judgementPlatforms, Community & Trends
• Define the role of Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat and emerging channels
• Track UAE and Saudi cultural signals, competitor activity and platform changes, and turn them into clear actions
• Oversee publishing quality, localisation and community management standardsCreators, UGC & Collaborations
• Build an always-on influencer and UGC pipeline for every priority brand, not just campaign bursts
• Select creators on fit, quality, brand safety, cost and past performance, not follower count alone
• Manage influencer agencies and direct creator relationships, including deliverables, approvals and usage rights
• Originate brand, platform, community, event and cultural collaborationsPaid Social Creative
• Own the creative testing agenda with the performance team or media agency
• Turn creative-level results into concrete decisions on hooks, duration, framing, talent and CTAs
• Create content that drives awareness, retail demand and e-commerce conversionTeam & Agency Leadership
• Structure, lead and coach a team of social media executives, content creators and design/production support
• Run weekly planning, content reviews and post-campaign learning
• Hold agencies, freelancers and production partners accountable for quality, timing and budget
• Partner with brand, performance, e-commerce, retail, sales and customer service teamsMeasurement
• Set meaningful KPIs such as qualified reach, watch time, saves, shares, engagement quality, traffic, conversion and creator efficiency
• Deliver concise monthly reports that explain what happened, why it matters and what changes next. No vanity metrics without context.WHAT YOU'LL BRING
• 5+ years in social media, content or integrated digital, including at least 2 years leading people, agencies or substantial multi-brand work
• A strong portfolio showing your personal contribution to strategy, creative, production and measurable results
• Proven experience building a team structure, workflow and social content system for more than one brand, audience or market
• Excellent visual judgement, with the ability to tell strong cinematography, art direction, hooks, edits and sound choices apart from content that is merely polished
• Deep knowledge of major platforms, creator ecosystems and audience behaviour, with a track record of anticipating opportunities rather than reacting late
• Experience building an always-on influencer and UGC pipeline and managing agencies (briefs, deliverables, approvals, usage rights, performance evaluation)
• Experience originating and delivering collaborations with brands, platforms, communities, events or cultural partners
• Working knowledge of paid-social creative, testing principles and creative performance metrics
• Strong analytical skills and confidence turning platform, creator and campaign data into decisions
• Clear leadership, feedback and stakeholder management skills in a fast-paced environment
• Highly proactive communication and time management: you surface risks early and keep multiple workstreams moving without repeated follow-up
• The curiosity and discipline to understand a brand deeply before proposing its content direction
• Professional fluency in English. Arabic is a strong advantage. Candidates without Arabic must show experience directing Arabic content with native-language reviewers.
• Current knowledge of UAE and Saudi audiences, cultural context and social media behaviour (essential)
• F&B, FMCG, retail, lifestyle, entertainment or another culture-driven consumer category background strongly preferredYOUR FIRST 90 DAYS
• Days 1–30: Learn every brand, audit all channels, map team capacity and workflows, and establish baselines
• By Day 60: Present the multi-brand operating model, UAE & KSA social strategy, creator pipeline, collaboration plan and measurement framework
• By Day 90: Run the new planning rhythm, deliver first priority content and creator tests, and share early performance learningsScreening questions I'd add"Please share a link to your portfolio (3–5 examples)." Mark this as a must-have so you don't receive CVs without work samples."How many years of experience do you have in social media or content roles?" Set the minimum to 5."How many years have you led a team, agencies or multi-brand social work?" Set the minimum to 2."Do you have professional proficiency in Arabic?" Make this preferred, not mandatory, since non-Arabic speakers can still qualify."Are you currently based in the UAE, or willing to relocate to Dubai?"