Account Manager

JOB TITLE: Account Manager

LOCATION: Abu Dhabi, Onsite

CONTRACT TYPE: Secondment

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

The Account Manager will be embedded within a leading Abu Dhabi utilities organisation, managing day-to-day delivery across corporate communications, media relations, crisis communications and selected marketing activities. The role will translate annual plans into coordinated activity, maintain high-quality communications materials and ensure delivery remains responsive to business priorities.

Working closely with internal stakeholders and external partners, the successful candidate will oversee content development, media engagement, event support, reputation monitoring and social media operations. This is a hands-on secondment for an organised communications professional who can manage multiple workstreams, respond confidently under pressure and maintain consistently high standards.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develop and maintain an integrated communications calendar covering internal communications, external communications, marketing, CSR, sustainability and priority industry events.
• Maintain an accurate and up-to-date media kit, including corporate presentations, fact sheets, FAQs, leadership biographies, boilerplates, photography and website content.
• Develop and edit press releases, articles, opinion pieces, quotes, speeches, interview briefings, talking points and Q&A materials for different audiences and channels.
• Coordinate English and Arabic content adaptation, review and approval, ensuring accuracy, consistency and alignment with organisational messaging.
• Identify relevant local, regional and international speaking opportunities that support communications priorities and leadership positioning.
• Develop and maintain targeted media lists and build productive relationships with relevant journalists and media outlets.
• Lead proactive media engagement, pitch stories and interviews, respond to media enquiries and prepare media materials for major announcements.
• Coordinate media relations for major events, acting as an on-site media point of contact and aligning agency, monitoring and follow-up activity.
• Monitor media and reputation issues, escalating potential risks quickly and providing clear early warnings to the crisis-management team.
• Support crisis preparedness and response by updating the crisis-communications manual, response structures and holding statements, coordinating media actions and maintaining clear records of follow-up activity.
• Develop the annual social media roadmap, manage day-to-day social account activity excluding community management, and create presentations using approved templates.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in Public Relations, Communications, Journalism, Marketing or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 4-6 years of experience in public relations, corporate communications or account management, ideally within an agency or embedded client environment.
• Professional fluency in English and Arabic, with the ability to develop, adapt and edit content in both languages.
• Strong writing and editing skills across press releases, articles, speeches, interview materials, corporate content and presentations.
• Proven media-relations experience, including proactive pitching, journalist engagement, media enquiries and event support.
• Experience developing communications calendars and coordinating delivery across internal, external, CSR, sustainability and event workstreams.
• Working knowledge of crisis communications, reputation monitoring, escalation protocols, holding statements and media-response activity.
• Experience developing social media roadmaps and managing day-to-day brand-channel activity and reporting.
• Strong client and stakeholder-management skills, with the confidence to coordinate input, provide clear advice and manage approvals.
• Excellent organisational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to prioritise multiple deadlines in a fast-moving environment.
• A calm, proactive and collaborative approach, with sound judgement and the ability to respond effectively when priorities change.

WHY JOIN US?

Be part of a growing organisation with exposure across multiple markets.

Work in a collaborative, multicultural environment.

Gain embedded client-side experience across integrated communications, media relations and reputation management.

ABOUT ACORN STRATEGY

Voted Large Agency of the Year and winner of multiple international awards, Acorn Strategy is a full-service communications consultancy with offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Melbourne, Perth, and London, and an ever-expanding client roster. We are an integrated marketing, public relations, and digital consultancy that delivers sharp, agile, and creative strategies to help grow our clients' business.

OUR CULTURE

We understand that our success depends on recruiting and retaining the highest quality individuals. We have created an environment for people to grow and learn through a culture that empowers creativity, innovation, and professionalism. The core values we live by are collaboration, agility, bravery, curiosity, and integrity.

OUR PEOPLE

Over the years we have come to realise that although each of our team members are unique, we each share a series of personal traits that have successfully linked us culturally as a team and as an agency at large.

ACORN STRATEGY is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are dedicated to creating and building a respectful and empowering environment. We aim to create an inclusive workplace that supports our diversity and increases our potential to produce work that better represents and resonates with the world around us.