Manager, Events & Sponsorship

Role Overview

Manager, Events & Sponsorship at First Abu Dhabi Bank. The role is based in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Company Overview

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) is the largest bank in the UAE and one of the world's largest and safest financial institutions. FAB offers a comprehensive range of personal and private banking services, including credit cards, Islamic banking, investments, loans, and mortgages. The organization is committed to excellence and innovation in delivering top-tier financial solutions to clients globally.

Role Purpose

Manage the planning, coordination, and execution of FAB's events, sponsorships, client engagement platforms, and strategic activations. The role delivers high-quality experiences that strengthen FAB's brand positioning, deepen stakeholder and client relationships, and contribute to measurable business, brand, community, and employee engagement outcomes. The Manager operates across the full lifecycle of assigned initiatives in a fast-paced environment, representing FAB professionally and enhancing its brand positioning and business development through high-impact experiences.

Key Responsibilities

Event Delivery & Coordination

• Manage end-to-end delivery of assigned corporate events, sponsorship activations, client engagements, executive events, conferences, hospitality programmes, and internal engagement initiatives.
• Translate business and stakeholder requirements into clear event plans, timelines, budgets, production briefs, run-of-shows, guest journeys, and delivery milestones.
• Coordinate all event touchpoints, including venue management, logistics, production, protocol, branding, registration, hospitality, content coordination, and guest experience.
• Ensure assigned events are delivered to expected quality standards, agreed timelines, approved budgets, and defined objectives.

Sponsorship Management

• Support evaluation of sponsorship opportunities against strategic relevance, target audience, brand fit, rights value, business impact, and expected return.
• Manage activation of assigned sponsorships and ensure contractual rights and benefits are delivered, tracked, and optimized.
• Work with organizers, rights holders, agencies, and internal teams to maximize FAB visibility, client engagement, employee engagement, community reach, and brand impact.
• Maintain sponsorship trackers, calendars, deliverables, approvals, and post-activation evidence.

Stakeholder & Partner Management

• Partner with internal business units, senior stakeholders, Marketing, Communications, Procurement, Legal, Compliance, Finance, and external partners to ensure joined-up delivery.
• Act as key point of contact for assigned projects, providing clear updates, recommendations, issue escalation, and post-event reporting.
• Build and maintain strong working relationships with government entities, event organizers, suppliers, agencies, and strategic partners.
• Mobilize internal contributors and external resources to support pre-event, live-event, and post-event communication and delivery requirements.
• Require regular interaction with senior executives, business units, government entities, external partners, suppliers, and key clients.

Governance, Compliance & Risk

• Ensure all activities comply with FAB policies, brand guidelines, approval processes, legal, compliance, risk, and regulatory requirements.
• Functions within the framework and boundaries of Group policies as well as overall organizational and governance frameworks.
• Identify project risks, dependencies, and operational issues early and support mitigation plans.

Financial & Procurement Management

• Manage purchase requests, supplier onboarding, invoices, and cost tracking in line with FAB procurement and financial governance requirements.

Reporting & Performance Tracking

• Prepare post-event and post-sponsorship reports capturing objectives, outcomes, attendance, client engagement, brand visibility, budget performance, lessons learned, and recommendations.
• Track performance indicators such as client engagement, lead generation, media value, brand exposure, rights utilization, community reach, employee engagement, and stakeholder satisfaction where applicable.
• Maintain accurate records, dashboards, calendars, and supporting documentation for portfolio visibility and senior management reporting.

Continuous Improvement

• Identify opportunities to improve efficiency, sustainability, supplier performance, event formats, and attendee experience.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Communications, Business Administration, Event Management, Public Relations, or a related discipline.
• Minimum 5 years of relevant experience in events, sponsorships, marketing, communications, stakeholder engagement, or project management, ideally within financial services, government, or a large corporate environment.

Additional Information

The role requires managing multiple concurrent initiatives and maintaining quality, control, and consistency across event and sponsorship delivery. Expected to represent FAB professionally at core events and maintain a strong external network relevant to FAB's events and sponsorship portfolio. The position operates in a fast-paced environment requiring strong project management, stakeholder management, commercial judgment, and attention to detail.