Director, Destination & Placemaking

المسمى الوظيفي

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The Director, Destinations & Placemaking is a new function within Aldar Estates, created to own the sustained activation, positioning, and performance of Aldar’s most significant destinations. It fills a gap that currently exists between what Development delivers and what Estates manages: the ongoing identity, programming, and visitor experience of the destination itself.

This is a senior leadership role with direct accountability to the Chief Districts & Communities Officer. The Director will build the function from the ground up, establish the JV partnerships that will deliver programming and placemaking capability, and use Saadiyat Grove and Yas Island as the immediate proving ground before extending the model across Aldar’s broader destination portfolio.

المهام الأساسية

• Define and own the long-term positioning and identity of Yas Island and Saadiyat Island as global destinations, ensuring strategic coherence across all activation, marketing, and programming decisions.
• Develop destination narrative frameworks and brand platforms in partnership with external specialists, acting as the primary internal client for all placemaking and branding engagements.
• Engage upstream with Aldar Development to influence master planning and design decisions before they are locked in, ensuring future destinations are built with programming and activation in mind from the outset.
• Lead destination strategy for Saadiyat Grove as the immediate pilot, translating existing positioning work and institutional partnerships into a sustained operating model.
• Build Aldar’s internal destination strategy capability over time, reducing reliance on external consultants while maintaining best-in-class advisory partnerships.

Placemaking & Public Realm

• Own the physical and experiential identity of Aldar destinations, ensuring the public realm is actively designed, programmed, and managed as a destination asset rather than passive infrastructure.
• Manage the placemaking JV and advisory partnerships, including the selection, appointment, and ongoing direction of specialist firms across Yas and Saadiyat.
• Develop and maintain a placemaking framework for each destination that reflects the distinct character, audience, and cultural context of Yas and Saadiyat respectively.
• Ensure retail and F&B tenant activation is aligned with destination programming, working with commercial and leasing teams to position frontages and public-facing spaces as integral to the destination experience.
• Build relationships with DCT Abu Dhabi, tourism authorities, and urban planning bodies to ensure Aldar’s placemaking approach is aligned with the emirate’s broader destination ambitions.

Programming & Activation

• Lead the destination programming calendar across Yas Island and Saadiyat Island, ensuring year-round activation that sustains visitor interest, drives repeat visitation, and builds genuine destination identity.
• Establish, manage, and develop the JV and structured partnership relationships with events, entertainment, and cultural programming organizations, including ongoing partner selection, contract governance, and performance management.
• Develop distinct programming strategies for each island: high-frequency animation and entertainment for Yas, curated cultural and prestige programming for Saadiyat.
• Oversee the development and delivery of signature events, seasonal activations, and community programming that reinforce each destination’s positioning and generate measurable commercial return.
• Coordinate marketing and amplification activity with agency partners, ensuring programming is communicated effectively to local, regional, and international audiences.

JV & Partnership Development

• Lead the establishment and ongoing governance of three core JV and structured partnership relationships. (Events & Entertainment JV, Cultural Programming Partnership, Placemaking & Advisory Partnership )
• Identify and develop future partnership opportunities that strengthen Aldar’s destination capability, including institutional partnerships with cultural organisations, tourism bodies, and international destination operators.
• Represent Aldar Estates in JV governance forums, ensuring Aldar’s strategic and commercial interests are protected and the partnerships deliver against agreed objectives.
• Over time, develop the commercial model through which Aldar’s destination management capability is offered to third‑party asset owners as a fee‑based service line.

Performance & Reporting

• Own the destination performance framework for Yas and Saadiyat, defining and tracking metrics across visitor numbers, dwell time, repeat visitation, NPS, programming yield, and commercial activation.
• Report regularly to the Chief Districts & Communities Officer and Aldar Estates leadership on destination performance, JV delivery, and strategic progress.
• Commission and apply market intelligence and visitor analytics, including working with internal research and innovation teams, to ensure programming and strategy decisions are evidence‑based.
• Establish a continuous improvement discipline within the function, using performance data to refine programming, partnerships, and activation on an ongoing basis.

Experience and Skills

• Minimum 10 years of experience in destination management, cultural programming, placemaking, or a directly related field.
• Demonstrated track record of leading destination strategy and programming for a major urban district, island, or mixed‑use destination at scale.
• Experience structuring and managing JV, partnership, or co‑investment relationships with events, entertainment, or cultural programming organizations.
• Proven ability to operate in complex, multi‑stakeholder environments with competing commercial and institutional interests.
• Experience working in or alongside the Gulf region strongly preferred; deep understanding of the Abu Dhabi destination landscape an advantage.
• Prior engagement with government tourism bodies, cultural institutions, or destination management organizations is highly desirable.
• Strategic thinker with the ability to translate long‑term destination ambition into operational plans, measurable outcomes, and accountable JV structures.
• Strong commercial instinct: understands how destination performance connects to asset value, leasing yield, and brand equity.
• Credible externally: able to represent Aldar with JV partners, cultural institutions, tourism boards, and international destination operators at a senior level.
• Culturally fluent: understands the Gulf context, the role of Emirati heritage and values in shaping public life, and how international best practice needs to be adapted rather than transplanted.
• Influential without line authority: able to drive outcomes across Development, Retail, Marketing, and external agencies through clarity of purpose and strength of relationships.
• Disciplined communicator: executive‑ready in both written and verbal communication, comfortable presenting to Group leadership and Board‑level stakeholders.

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2026-03-24 08:52:58