Culture Sites & Programmes Director JOB

Job Title: Culture Sites & Programmes Director

Department: Culture Sites Management Department

Direct Manager:  Culture Sites Department Director

Sector: Culture Sector 

1- Role Purpose:

2- Key Responsibilties:

Strategic Plans & Culture Sites Positioning

• Liaise with Culture Sites Management Department Director to define and execute the strategic and operational plans of culture sites within Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Al Dhafra regions such as (Al Ain Museum, Qasr Al Muwaiji, Al Jahili Fort, Al Ain Oasis, Qasr Al Hosn, Cultural Foundation, etc…) in line with the overall Culture Sector and DCT’s strategic priorities.
• Contribute to ensure effective development of culture sites positioning and target audiences, aiding to promote and reinforce cultural importance within the emirate of Abu Dhabi.
• Foster relationships with strategic stakeholders from the sector locally and globally in order to build effective collaborations and partnerships.
• Monitor visitors’ satisfaction and engagement across all culture sites through implementing world-class experiences, while ensuring sites’ tours effectively embed stories and history of the culture sites.
• Provide recommendations and direct the teams to increase engagement with the community and increase the number of visitors across culture sites through marketing and communication efforts in close collaboration with relevant DCT teams, aiding to ensure effective promotion of Abu Dhabi historic sites locally and internationally.
• Ensure the preservation, protection and display of collections / objects in accordance with established policies and standards and in coordination with the DCT core Collections Section.

• Visitors Engagement & Experience

  
  
• Monitor the efforts to increase visitor satisfaction and engagement by overseeing the development and implementation of visitor experiences that are in line with the required level of satisfaction and quality, ensuring the content and story of the culture sites are communicated effectively.
• Ensure the development and implementation of attractive visitor experiences, including distinctive offers across various culture sites, and direct the teams to identify opportunities for improvement, aiding to meet visitors' expectations and desired objectives.
• Lead and manage the establishment of target annual visitor numbers across all culture sites, ensuring that the actual number of visitors meets or exceeds target numbers.
• Ensure promoting the use of advanced visitor tracking methods and techniques across all culture sites in order to ensure accurate visitor numbers and records are in place.

• Shared Activity  

  
  

  Strategic Development & Implementation

  
  
• Develop and direct the implementation of the functional strategy ensuring alignment to DCT's strategy, vision, mission and corporate objectives.
• Ensure that functional strategy and related strategic plans are developed and implemented, which are aligned with the vision and mission of the organization.
• Ensure the provision of subject matter expertise for the assigned domain and provide counsel to DCT leadership on all related areas to facilitate the achievement of DCT'S strategy and functional strategies.

• Leadership

  
  
• Manage the effective achievement of functional objectives through effective leadership and by setting of individual objectives, managing performance, developing and motivating team to maximize performance.
• Lead the talent development initiatives for the assigned function, collaborating with discipline experts and thereby ensure the availability of talent to fit business requirements.
• Act as a role model and drive adherence to organizational values and ethics by employees of the assigned function to ensure the establishment of a value driven culture within the organization.

Exhibitions, Programming & Outreach

• Manage the development and implementation of programmes and public engagement experiences across all culture sites in order to foster cultural development and historical preservation within the emirate of Abu Dhabi.
• Liaise with Education & Outreach Department, Culture Planning & Development Department and other relevant departments within the sector to deliver distinctive public engagement and outreach programmes within culture sites.
• Monitor curatorial activities, exhibitions and acquisitions of each culture site to ensure they are in line with the site’s narrative, strategies and overall objectives in close collaboration with Culture Planning & Development Department.  

Budgeting and Financial Performance

• Oversee the consolidation and recommend the functional budget and monitor financial performance versus the budget, to take a proactive approach towards anticipated costs/revenues, identifying areas of unsatisfactory performance, and defining potential areas of cost reduction or performance improvement opportunities.

Quality, Health, Safety, & Environment

• Direct the compliance of all relevant quality, health, safety and environmental management policies, procedures and controls across the function to guarantee employee safety, legislative compliance, delivery of high-quality products/service and a responsible environmental attitude.
• Oversee an effective Safety Management System (SMS) to ensure the highest standards of safety is maintained for personnel, property and facilities.
• Drivethe development of an Emergency Response program that meets the appropriate regulatory requirements and ensures DCT'S operational resilience and reduced exposure in emergencies.

Policies, Systems, Processes & Procedures

• Develop and lead the implementation of departmental functional policies, systems, processes, procedures and controls covering all areas of assigned functional so that all relevant procedural/legislative requirements are fulfilled while delivering a quality, cost-effective service in a consistent manner.

Change Management

• Lead the management of change through continuous improvement of functional systems, processes and practices taking into account global standards and changes in the business environment which demand proactive action plans.

Reporting

• Ensure that all functional reports are prepared timely and accurately and meet DCT requirements, policies and quality standards.

3- Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s (Master’s preferred) in Culture, Arts, Museum Studies, Business Administration, or any other decree within relevant industry.

4- Experience: 

• 9 to 11 years of experience in museums, culture / historic sites management, or any other relevant experience within similar fields. Proven ability to advocate and represent the activities and interests of museum / culture sites at the highest level with stakeholders, media, public institutions, governments and other organizations. Preferably, someone with excellent knowledge and experience in programmes development and public engagement.  

5- Skills:

• Language: Full professional English proficiency both in speaking and writing; Arabic desirable
• Skilled in MS Office (PowerPoint, Word and Excel)
• Ability to guide and motivate juniors
• Administrative skills and attention to detail
• Self-motivated with a proven ability to complete work in a timely manner
• Interpersonal communication skills
• Strong analytical skills
• Long-term planning skills
• Excellent financial accounting skills

Expert knowledge on IT strategic set-ups, supply management and facilities management best practices