View Vacancy – DXB – Regional Creative Lead (HEO)

The British Embassy in Dubai has a vacancy for a Regional Creative Lead under the UK Department for Business and Trade (DBT), job grade Higher Executive Officer (HEO). This is for a fixed-term contract of three (3) years. 

The role is based at the British Embassy Dubai and will be responsible for DBT’s brand design and creative innovation across the Middle East and Pakistan (MEaP). 

You will be overseeing high-quality visual communication for our international brands and campaigns across the MEaP region, driving creative innovation and knowledge sharing, and contributing to successful campaign delivery and event management.

 The successful candidate will report into the Head of Communication and Marketing based in Dubai, working closely with colleagues in the UK and across the MEaP region. 

The FCDO is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer. We value difference, promote equality and challenge discrimination, enhancing our organisational capability. We do not discriminate on any basis, including categories protected by law. In keeping with the FCDO’s commitment to disability inclusion in the workplace, hiring managers must incorporate the principles set out in the FCDO Disability Confident scheme job applications in the CBS recruitment process.  Our CBS are recruited by Missions in-country in line with local employment laws.

Duties and responsibilities:  

Creative innovation (40%)

• Identify visual/creative gaps: Actively assess and identify areas where campaign visuals are needed for key sectors. Proactively generate creative concepts and develop assets in-house, collaborating with the London-based Creative & Digital team, International Marketing Team, and DBT (Department for Business and Trade) Global MarComms Hub.
• Create marketing materials: Design fresh marketing materials and templates for various brands, addressing identified gaps and empowering teams with user-friendly templates.

Brand Management (20%)

• Oversee design outputs: Provide strategic design oversight for all branded regional engagements, ensuring sustainable, long-term, and impactful public-facing results.
• Brand guardianship: Ensure consistent and accurate branding representation across all visual communication materials, adhering to brand guidelines and maintaining brand integrity.
• Knowledge sharing: Regularly share design trends and knowledge with wider teams, informing them of the UK Government’s overall vision and goals and empowering them for self-sufficiency during peak periods.

Regional marketing campaign delivery (30%)

• Campaigns delivery committees: Actively participate in campaigns delivery committee calls, understand marketing requirements, and propose sustainable, long-term design solutions.
• Engage with sector leads: Collaborate with sector leads to plan assets, source images, and create visuals for upcoming major events and campaigns.

Communications & Event Delivery (10%)

• Content Production: Develop and curate high-quality visual content for social media (static and video), event capturing, and communication activities, ensuring brand alignment and message consistency.

Additional responsibilities:

• Production management: Assess upcoming programme needs, resource teams with templates, and efficiently allocate design resources (including yourself) to ensure successful brand and asset delivery.
• Flexibility & HQ projects: Demonstrate flexibility to take on additional tasks assigned by the HQ Creative and Digital team and Head of Creative.
• Engagement with departmental teams: Regularly collaborate with the British Embassy, HQ Department for Business and Trade, and Campaign teams to update them on the evolving regional portfolio throughout the design process.
• Evidence reviews and feedback analysis: Monitor relevant regional and global events to identify improvement opportunities and validate existing evidence—Analyse feedback on past engagements to inform future event design.
• Creative workshops: Organise and facilitate workshops on design processes, program design, (Minimum Equipment List) MEL requirements, results frameworks, risks, finances, and delivery changes for influential branded events.

Profile:

You must be a design professional with excellent design skills and the ability to work on a number of simultaneous design projects. To be successful in this role, you should have in-depth knowledge of graphic design, styles, and layout techniques. 

You will have experience executing projects in English and Arabic from conception to production. You will be an excellent photographer, videographer and editor, able to work across multimedia. 

You will be a problem solver who can work under pressure. As well as executing commissions, you will also apply excellent design principles to our communication and marketing objectives. 

You will understand and stay up-to-date with industry standards, tools, and trends. You will be confident in presenting your concepts to others in English and Arabic, and be able to give clear advice to others regarding design. 

You will have an understanding of our audiences and their needs and an awareness of the rapidly changing nature of social media and how to put that to good use. 

The above list is not exhaustive, and the jobholder will be required to be flexible and take on other ad hoc tasks as required. 

Key behaviours required: 

• Working Together: Form effective partnerships and relationships with people both internally and externally, from a range of diverse backgrounds, sharing information, resources, and support.
• Managing a Quality Service: Deliver service objectives with professional excellence, expertise, and efficiency, taking account of diverse customer needs.
• Delivering at Pace: Take responsibility for delivering timely and quality results with focus and drive.
• Changing and Improving: Seek out opportunities to create effective change and suggest innovative ideas for improvement. Review ways of working, including seeking and providing feedback.

• Proven experience as a senior graphic designer or creative lead with a strong track record of delivering high-quality visuals.
• In-depth knowledge of design principles, trends, and software like Adobe Creative Suite.
• Excellent communications skills, including fluency in both written and spoken English and Arabic.
• Excellent problem-solving and strategic thinking skills.
• Effective communication, collaboration, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work independently and manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Understanding of international marketing and event management principles.
• Experience working in a fast-paced, cross-cultural environment.