Senior Manager - Government Affairs; UAEN

We are looking to hire a Government Affairs Senior Manager who will be responsible for managing executive government engagements, high-level stakeholder interactions, official visits, national and international events, delegations, and protocol-sensitive activities for our client based in Abu Dhabi – which is one of the largest companies in the region.

This is a permanent role within the MD & CEO Office (Holding Company), under the Executive Affairs section, reporting directly to the VP, Government Affairs
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We are looking for a proactive and experienced government affairs professional with a strong background in executive-level government engagement, protocol management, stakeholder coordination, and strategic event delivery. You should have experience managing high-profile engagements involving CEOs and senior executives, government authorities, public-sector entities, diplomatic missions, and international delegations, ensuring all activities are professionally coordinated, protocol-compliant, and aligned with organisational priorities.

• Manage the planning and execution of government-facing engagements involving the Group CEO, Executive Affairs Director, senior executives, government representatives, and institutional stakeholders.
• Support the VP, Government Affairs in developing and implementing the executive government engagement agenda in line with organisational priorities and CEO Office requirements.
• Coordinate national and international meetings, official visits, conferences, forums, round tables, ceremonies, strategic events, and inbound and outbound delegation programmes.
• Develop structured engagement plans covering meeting objectives, stakeholder backgrounds, agendas, protocol requirements, briefing materials, logistics, timelines, and follow-up actions.
• Manage the executive engagement calendar, ensuring priorities, preparation requirements, dependencies, and responsibilities are clearly defined.
• Oversee the preparation and quality of executive briefing packs, stakeholder profiles, government entity profiles, talking points, key messages, background papers, agendas, and decision notes.
• Ensure the Group CEO and senior executives receive accurate, concise, and timely briefing materials ahead of high-level government meetings, official visits, and strategic engagements.
• Provide guidance on protocol requirements, executive etiquette, order of precedence, cultural considerations, stakeholder sensitivities, and appropriate representation for national and international engagements.
• Coordinate with government offices, ministries, authorities, municipalities, diplomatic missions, event organisers, protocol teams, strategic partners, and internal stakeholders to ensure seamless engagement delivery.
• Work closely with internal departments and subsidiaries to gather relevant information, project updates, data, and supporting materials required for executive meetings and events.
• Manage stakeholder communications, including meeting requests, event invitations, delegation proposals, speaking invitations, official correspondence, and follow-up letters.
• Track commitments, decisions, stakeholder requests, and action items arising from meetings, visits, delegations, and executive engagements, ensuring timely follow-up and closure.
• Prepare post-engagement summaries, action trackers, stakeholder updates, dashboards, and periodic reports for the VP, Government Affairs and Executive Affairs Director.
• Implement and maintain standard procedures, templates, checklists, briefing formats, stakeholder records, engagement trackers, and document repositories to ensure consistency, governance, and institutional knowledge.
• Manage, guide, and develop the Government Affairs Specialist, ensuring clear responsibilities, high-quality deliverables, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Monitor engagement-related budgets and expenditure, where applicable, and support reporting on completed engagements, upcoming events, outstanding actions, and stakeholder priorities.
• Ensure all government engagement activities comply with organisational governance requirements, approval protocols, confidentiality standards, and document control procedures.
• Bachelor's degree in Public Administration, International Relations, Political Science, Business Administration, Protocol and Diplomacy, Communications, Event Management, or a related field
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• Preferably 8 years of progressive experience in government affairs, executive government engagement, protocol…