Content and Program Lead – Athar – Saudi Festival of Creativity

Athar Festival is looking for a dynamic and detaileddriven Content & Program Lead to shape the intellectual and creative backbone of Athar Festival. This role leads the creation coordination and delivery of all festival content from keynote sessions and panels to speaker engagements and audience experiences. It blends editorial excellence program development project management and creative storytelling to bring the festival to life on stage and across digital channels.

As the lead of the full program lifecycle you will drive concept development curate speakers craft compelling narratives and ensure seamless content delivery before during and after the festival. You will work closely with senior leaders external speakers and crossfunctional teams to build a cohesive highimpact program that reflects Athars mission and elevates the audience experience. The ideal candidate is a strategic storyteller a meticulous producer and a confident collaborator who thrives in fastpaced highvisibility environments.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop the festivals content strategy by shaping narratives themes and messaging aligned with Athars brand mission and business objectives.
  
• Build and structure the full event program including keynotes panels workshops masterclasses and fringe sessions ensuring a balanced engaging and insightdriven agenda.
  
• Manage all speaker content collaborating with internal leaders external speakers moderators and partners to develop scripts talking points presentations and panel flows.
  
• Produce highquality event materials including runofshow documents stage scripts moderator guides briefing packs and backstage cue sheets.
  
• Work closely with the marketing team to showcase speakers sessions and festival themes to attendees through campaigns digital content and promotional storytelling.
  
• Drive speaker and session promotion partnering with marketing to highlight program elements and encourage applications for session submissions.
  
• Conduct research and host content development calls with thought leaders partners and potential speakers to shape the festivals annual content strategy.
  
• Build and maintain relationships with speakers industry experts cultural voices and community partners to strengthen the festivals content pipeline.
  
• Collaborate with sponsors to develop sponsored sessions fringe content and branded programming that aligns with festival standards and audience expectations.
  
• Manage onsite program execution working closely with stage managers stagehands and the AV/technical team to deliver scripts schedules presentations and cues for seamless stage operations.
  
• Liaise and brief AV and production teams to ensure all technical requirements transitions and content assets are prepared and executed flawlessly.
  
• Support backstage operations managing timing speaker flow and realtime adjustments during live sessions.
  
• Ensure brand voice tone and editorial consistency across all event content from stage materials to digital assets.
  
• Manage postevent content needs including recaps highlight summaries content repurposing for digital channels and the creation of detailed postevent reports and program reviews.
  
• Evaluate session performance and audience engagement to inform future programming and continuous improvement of the festival experience.
  

Requirements

Qualifications

• 36 years of experience in event programming content production editorial work communications or live event management.
  
• Proven experience developing event agendas curating speakers and producing content for conferences festivals or largescale cultural events.
  
• Demonstrated ability to work directly with senior leaders highprofile speakers and external partners including managing briefings rehearsals and content development.
  
• Strong background in storytelling editorial strategy and narrative development with the ability to translate research and insights into compelling session concepts.
  
• Handson experience with live event production including runofshow workflows backstage operations AV coordination and stage management.
  
• Proficiency in presentation tools such as PowerPoint Google Slides or Keynote with the ability to guide speakers on visual storytelling.
  
• Strong project management skills with experience managing timelines approvals and multiple content streams simultaneously.
  
• Excellent research abilities including conducting interviews discovery calls and content development sessions with subjectmatter experts.
  
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills with a sharp editorial eye and attention to detail.
  
• Experience working crossfunctionally with marketing design production and communications teams to deliver cohesive event experiences.
  

KPIs

• Ontime delivery of the full festival program with strong internal and audience satisfaction scores.
  
• Timely confirmation and preparation of all speakers supported by positive feedback and smooth session delivery.
  
• Effective collaboration with marketing resulting in strong engagement with speaker announcements session promotions and callforsubmissions.
  
• Seamless delivery of live sessions measured by production feedback accurate runofshow execution and minimal lastminute changes.
  
• Completion of highquality postevent reports and content assets that directly inform next years strategy.
  

Athar Festival organized and presented by Motivate Media Group is Saudi Arabias flagship creativity and marketing festival. Being part of Athar means joining a team that brings together industry leaders global speakers and creative talent to shape the future of marketing and storytelling in the region.

Motivate Media Group is the regions leading multi-platform content producer with a diverse portfolio of media interests comprising magazines digital social video exhibitions & events cinema OOH and books. Interested candidates may apply attaching a copy of their CV and a one-page cover letter.