Director Festival

Team: Festival

Activity: Full-time

Role grade: Director (8)

Direct reports: 4

Indirect reports: 0

Reporting to: Chief Product Officer

Role location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Job Purpose: As the Director Festival, you will lead the planning, execution, and management of the festival accompanying tournaments. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in large-scale event management and a creative mindset to bring our festival vision to life. This role requires a strategic thinker who can create new content and seamlessly integrate various elements of the festival, ensuring a memorable and engaging experience for all attendees.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end festival planning, execution, and onsite operations, including concerts, venues, interactive zones, and ceremonies.

• Manage master festival planning and timelines across multiple functions, including operations, creative, production, and partner coordination.

• Oversee partnerships with international and local IPs, driving integration of owned and third-party properties into the overall festival experience.

• Oversee all government relations regarding event approvals, permits, and ongoing stakeholder alignment.

• Develop and manage a strategy for integrated influencer activations that align with the festival’s creative vision.

• Curate cutting-edge tech and gaming experiences, ensuring interactivity, accessibility, and wow-factor.

• Facilitate amateur esports tournaments to encourage community participation. Ensure smooth operation and high standards of these community-focused activities

• Lead creation of key zones, including fan zones, sponsor activations, and VIP lounges with immersive programming.

• Create a welcoming and vibrant atmosphere to enhance the fan experience

• Develop new content formats and festival concepts that reinforce EWC’s position as a global entertainment and gaming leader.

• Oversee budget, governance, operational tracking, and reporting to senior leadership.

• Manage the festival team and collaborate across departments and external vendors to deliver execution at scale.

• Revise and evolve the festival blueprint annually, including benchmarking and innovation research from global festivals.

• Define and monitor strategic key performance indicators to measure the success and impact of the festival to drive decision-making and continuous improvement

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Event Management, Marketing, Business, or related field.

• 10+ years of experience leading creative direction and production of large-scale festivals or entertainment experiences.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Proven track record of owning and driving the development of IP-based events, brand activations, and entertainment formats.

• Demonstrated experience with multiple entertainment formats (concerts, immersive tech, fan zones, etc.)

• Demonstrated experience delivering large-scale B2C festivals or public events attracting thousands of attendees.

• Strong creative leadership with the ability to conceptualize original experiences and translate them into executable plans.

• Creative thinking and problem-solving abilities to innovate and enhance the festival experience

• Experience managing complex, multi-million dollar budgets and large vendor ecosystems.

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to effectively engage with stakeholders, sponsors, and team members

• Demonstrated ability to thrive in a dynamic and high-pressure event environment

• Deep understanding of youth entertainment trends and global festival benchmarks.

• Experience managing teams, including hiring and performance management

• Very good written and verbal communication skills in English

Bonus / Nice to Have:

• Good understanding of the gaming and esports industry

Our Perks:

• Relocation support

• Transportation allowance

• Competitive compensation

• Housing allowance

• VIP medical insurance

• Opportunity to work on a new exciting project with a group of passionate professionals. You will get the freedom to excel and make a real impact

Diversity disclaimer

Our mission is to build a diverse organization where our members, regardless of background or identity, have a sense of belonging. We genuinely believe that thanks to creating a collaborative environment where different perspectives are valued, we can achieve more. Together, we want to reshape the boundaries of what is achievable in the esports domain.