Associate Manager - Creative

Aldar Education is currently seeking an Associate Manager - Creative. The Associate Manager - Creative is responsible for developing and delivering creative and brand visual strategies across assigned schools or portfolios, while leading the rollout of HQ-led creative frameworks and brand initiatives at a school level. The role owns end-to-end creative direction, acts as a custodian of brand visual identity, and ensures all creative output is grounded in insight, research, and data to drive impact, consistency, and excellence across all touchpoints.

Aldar Education is the leading education group in Abu Dhabi. We provide inclusive and innovative learning that inspires and empowers communities. Aldar Education aims to be your employer of choice. We educate over 34,000 students across our group of owned and managed schools in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, and as we grow, so does our need for highly skilled, inspirational, and dedicated school leaders and employees across the group.

Working collaboratively, our purpose is to empower the next generation to shape our future, directly supporting the educational goals of Abu Dhabi’s government. Today, Aldar Education’s efforts are guided by the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 plan, which aims to build a sustainable knowledge-based economy through premium education.

We are a “Great Place To Work” and currently employ over 1,400 teachers to deliver the English National Curriculum, the highly regarded American Massachusetts State Curriculum, and the prestigious International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, all with an international dimension.

This is an exciting opportunity to join the highly successful Aldar family of schools and to help shape the future of Abu Dhabi’s leading school group.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design, Visual Communication, Creative Arts, Marketing, or a related discipline
• Formal training or certifications in design, branding, motion, or digital creative disciplines are desirable

Minimum Experience

• 6–10+ years’ experience in creative, brand, or design leadership roles
• Proven experience developing and owning brand visual identities and creative systems
• Strong track record delivering integrated creative campaigns across digital, video, motion, print, and physical environments
• Demonstrated experience leading creative teams and managing direct reports
• Experience rolling out HQ-led brand identities and creative frameworks across multiple brands or locations
• Experience working in multi-brand, portfolio, or complex organisational environments
• Experience within education, hospitality, or premium service-led brands is preferred

Job Specific Knowledge & Skill

• Excellent English language skills, written and oral
• Work in a highly collaborative and effective manner, both independently and in cross-functional teams
• Very good at establishing professional relationships within and across companies
• Ability to roll up sleeves and get things done through taking calculated risks and experimenting with new solutions
• Attention to detail with diligent follow-up, and able to execute in a timely manner
• Skilled in multitasking and handling pressure
• Organizational ability, of self and others
• Capable of influencing people and talented in networking with cultural sensitivity
• Great interpersonal skills
• Ability to think strategically
• Commercial acumen
• Expert-level understanding of brand visual identity systems and creative strategy
• Strong expertise in video production, motion graphics, animation, and multimedia storytelling
• Working knowledge of HTML banner development, dynamic creative optimisation, and digital ad formats
• Ability to ground creative decisions in research, insight, and performance data
• Strong understanding of digital, social, print, OOH, and experiential design principles
• Proven people leadership, coaching, and development capability
• Excellent creative leadership, briefing, and stakeholder management skills
• Strong eye for detail, craft, and quality control
• Confident in presenting creative ideas and rationale to senior stakeholders
• Highly structured, forward-thinking, and outcome-oriented

Working knowledge of the following:

Creative & design platforms

• Advanced proficiency in Adobe Creative Cloud (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, After Effects, Premiere Pro)
• Strong working knowledge of Canva (including brand kits, templates, and scalable systems for non-design stakeholders)
• Experience with Figma or similar collaborative design tools for digital and UI-led assets
• Video, motion & multimedia
• Expertise in video production workflows, editing, and post-production
• Strong capability in motion graphics and animation (After Effects or equivalent)
• Understanding of video optimisation for social, web, and performance marketing
• Digital & HTML assets
• Working knowledge of HTML5 banner development, dynamic creative formats, and rich media ads
• Familiarity with tools such as Google Web Designer, or equivalent HTML5 creative platforms
• Understanding of creative requirements for programmatic and performance-led environments

Brand systems & governance

• Strong experience developing brand identity systems, guidelines, and toolkits
• Ability to govern brand consistency across multiple brands, schools, and environments
• Strong understanding of applying research, insights, and performance data to inform creative decisions

Certifications (desirable)

• Adobe Certified Professional (ACP)
• Google Creative or HTML5 display certifications
• Motion graphics or video production certifications
• UX, design thinking, or brand strategy certifications

Leadership & delivery

• Proven people management, coaching, and creative leadership capability
• Strong briefing, presentation, and stakeholder management skills
• High attention to detail, craft, and quality control
• Structured, forward-thinking, and outcome-oriented mindset

WHAT WE OFFER:

Aldar Education is a family of world-class, child-centered, and innovative schools based in the UAE. We educate over 34,000 students across our group of owned and managed schools, and as we grow, so does our need for highly skilled, inspirational, and dedicated school leaders. We offer an attractive remuneration package including medical cover, flights, housing, and free child school places. Our future-focused learning model includes both students and staff, so we place a special emphasis on professional development, coaching and training.

Successful candidates will have access to a wide network of professionals and opportunities to both lead and contribute to training others as well as developing themselves.

Aldar Education is keen to hear from like-minded, forward thinking school leaders who would welcome the challenges and opportunities that we have to offer.

This job description is not all inclusive. Aldar Education reserves the right to amend this job description at any time. We are an equal opportunity employer, committed to a diverse and inclusive work environment. We are also mindful of our national development strategy and encourage UAE Nationals in their application at our company.

Aldar Education is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff to share this commitment. Offers of appointment are subject to satisfactory references and police clearance.

Main Duties

• Develop and own creative and brand visual identity strategies aligned with brand, marketing, and enrolment objectives
• Act as custodian of brand visual identity, ensuring consistency, quality, and evolution across all schools and platforms
• Lead the delivery of creative programmes from concept through execution across digital, video, motion, print, and on-ground environments
• Lead, manage, and develop a team of Creative Officers supporting school-level and HQ-led initiatives
• Lead the localisation, adaptation, and rollout of HQ-led brand identities, creative frameworks, and campaigns across schools
• Ensure creative strategy and execution are informed by research, insights, and performance data
• Drive creative excellence, governance, and continuous improvement across all assigned activity

S pecific Duties

• Develop and evolve brand visual identities, sub-brands, and creative systems grounded in research, insight, and data
• Own and maintain brand guidelines, toolkits, and visual standards, ensuring clarity and consistent adoption
• Lead creative ideation, concept development, and storytelling across campaigns, launches, and key initiatives
• Oversee video development, motion graphics, animation, and multimedia storytelling across platforms
• Lead the development of HTML banners, dynamic creative assets, and digital ad formats in collaboration with digital teams
• Oversee the development and rollout of creative assets including digital content, social assets, print collateral, OOH, event branding, and school environments
• Translate HQ-led creative frameworks and campaigns into effective, high-quality school-level executions
• Provide creative direction, quality control, and performance feedback to Creative Officers
• Brief, manage, and quality-control external creative agencies and production partners as required
• Partner closely with Brand, Digital, and Communications teams to ensure integrated execution and alignment
• Support creative delivery for open days, enrolment campaigns, launches, and key school milestones
• Identify opportunities to elevate creative quality, storytelling, and innovation across schools and platforms