Digital Engagement Strategist - Abu Dhabi

Digital Engagement Strategist Please note, whilst the successful candidate can be based in Abu Dhabi, you will be required to come to the Dubai office twice per week   At Horizontal Digital, we hold ourselves to one key belief: You’re only as good as your worst customer experience. This mantra is what drives our digital consultancy to think beyond the easy answers and instead create websites, apps, portals and other experiences that solve customer needs for Fortune 500 companies in intuitive and empathetic ways. And we make this lofty standard a reality by fusing strategy, data, design and technology together to arrive at solutions that set the bar higher for everyone.   We use these values to fuel superior results: Lock arms We forge relationships that make our impact 1,000x stronger. This means working across departments and engaging both our clients and our communities to deliver the greatest good. Show hustle We’re not ones to sit on our hands and wait. Instead, we anticipate opportunities, collectively roll up our sleeves and find ways to execute the exceptional. Embrace change From new technologies to workplace philosophies, we welcome the unexpected and constantly anticipate what’s next. Elevate empathy We listen before we take action. This means understanding a variety of perspectives and holding ourselves to a higher standard of accountability. Never settle We motivate each other to push past the easy answers and collectively arrive at bigger, more inspiring ideas.   But enough about us. Let’s talk about you.    As a Digital Engagement Strategist, you’re equally comfortable operating at the strategic altitude and in the weeds of day-to-day delivery. You have a background in digital agencies and a track record of owning complex transformation programmes. You’ve likely worn hats such as Product Manager, Digital Strategist, Project Manager or Client Partner—and you understand what it means to guide a client while getting work over the line. You thrive on solving real business problems, building trust with senior stakeholders, and collaborating closely with creative and technical teams. You bring a rare combination of strategic acumen, delivery discipline and commercial instinct—alongside a curiosity for AI and emerging tech. And you’re energised by face-to-face interaction: spending time on-site with the client, helping steer them through complexity. The role blends four things: Product Ownership: represent the product vision, shape roadmaps, and connect delivery to outcomes Strategic Growth: identify new needs, shape upcoming work, and ensure commercial alignment Client Relationship Leadership: act as the strategic counterpart to our clients, ensuring executive alignment and engagement Pre-Sales & New Business Leadership: lead strategic pre-sales engagements, shape early-stage delivery, and help win the right type of work by aligning our product and partnership vision with client ambition.   What you’ll do:  ·       Act as the primary digital engagement lead across one or more strategic accounts—guiding clients through Discovery, Strategy, Design, Development and Delivery ·       Proactively identify improvement opportunities on live platforms, ensuring our work evolves through a Continuous Improvement (CI) mindset ·       Translate complex business needs into phased outcome-led roadmaps that guide both near-term delivery and long-term transformation ·       Act as the internal voice of the client and the external voice of the product - ensuring everything we deliver is connected to a clearly defined product vision, prioritised roadmap, and measurable business value ·       Provide clear strategic direction to delivery teams - partnering with Design, Tech, and Delivery Leads to ensure alignment on capacity, velocity, and value, while stepping back from day-to-day delivery management ·       Support clients in shaping go-to-market (GTM) strategies, service propositions, or business design initiatives - particularly during Discovery or early-phase engagements ·       Help shape commercial models and prioritisation trade-offs in partnership with clients - aligning budgets, ambition and investment phasing across multi-stage programmes. ·       Build credibility with senior stakeholders—offering a clear, structured point of view while flexing between corporate polish and startup hustle ·       Operate as a connector across disciplines: delivery, strategy, design, content, data and technology ·       Shape and steer multi-disciplinary teams to deliver experience-led digital transformation programmes ·       Lead workshops, stakeholder interviews and discovery engagements to uncover goals, pain points and opportunities ·       Work with technologists and platform specialists to determine the best in class technical solutions to business problems ·       Support proposal writing, scoping and pre-sales activities ·       Maintain an informed POV on AI, emerging tech, composable platforms and customer experience best practices     Who you are:    You are a hybrid thinker and doer—someone with one foot in strategy, one in delivery. You’re confident navigating complex client relationships, and you bring a sharp commercial lens to digital transformation programmes. You have and agency background with a history of time spent on-site with clients and you know how to build trust in the room. You have history of a variety of work in the UAE and have a strong professional network.   You thrive when working across disciplines—creative, technical, strategic—and are equally comfortable whiteboarding ideas or writing a scope. You’re curious about what’s next in technology, passionate about customer experience, and collaborative by nature. You can pivot between the structure of large programmes and the pace of startup-style initiatives. You have excellent communication, organisation and presentation skills—and enjoy managing complexity with clarity. You thrive on on collaboration but know how to take ownership and drive outcomes.   What you bring:   ·       ~10+ years of experience in digital strategy, product, delivery, or consultancy roles in an agency setting ·       Proven ability to lead complex transformation programmes and Continuous Improvement (CI) programmes. ·       Strong understanding of agile-based and waterfall delivery models and are comfortable flexing between traditional and adaptive methodologies ·       Hands-on knowledge of DXP & MarTech ecosystems and extensive experience working with at least one enterprise CMS (e.g. Sitecore, Adobe, Optimizely, Acquia, LifeRay) preferably with at least one relevant platform certification or qualificaiton ·       Confidence in managing senior stakeholders and leading difficult, high-stakes conversations ·       Experience spending meaningful time working on-site with clients and are comfortable committing to a hybrid working week of client-side office days, agency office days and working from home. ·       Strong collaboration and communication skills—able to guide and inspire cross-functional teams ·       Experience with service blueprints, customer journey mapping and organisational change facilitation ·       Curiosity for AI, emerging technologies and evolving customer experience trends ·       Preferred experience industries such as hospitality, tourism, logistics or transport ·       Two recent case studies you can share in interview to demonstrate your impact     If this sounds like you, we’d love to meet. We’re looking for smart, grounded, pragmatic strategists who want to make a difference.   The above description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.