Sara Abdulla Al Mheiri

Marketing Director – Global Village

Leading the Marketing & Events function for Global Village, one of the UAE's most prominent cultural and tourism destinations, with a strong focus on strategic alignment with national initiatives, stakeholder engagement, and public outreach to drive brand growth and footfall.

• Define and implement communication and marketing strategies that align with national tourism, cultural, and economic development goals, contributing to the UAE’s global positioning.
• Collaborate with local government entities, national media, and strategic partners to ensure unified messaging and alignment with nationwide campaigns and initiatives.
• Lead public relations and media engagement strategies to promote positive brand visibility while managing reputational risk in coordination group level protocols.
• Oversee the digital communications strategy, optimizing website, CRM, and paid media to enhance access to information and customer experience.
• Direct a cross functional team to ensure strategic alignment, governance, and high standards of communication delivery across all channels and touchpoints.
• Lead communication planning for major events and national campaigns hosted at Global Village, ensuring they reflect the UAE’s cultural diplomacy and economic vision.

Develop a comprehensive annual digital marketing strategy that aligns with and supports the organization’s overall strategic goals and roadmap. Strategically plan and oversee the implementation of marketing campaigns across key digital channels, including social media, email, mobile apps, and website content. Plan and manage the sections budget across all digital channels and platforms, ensuring optimal budget allocation of to support marketing objectives. Set digital marketing KPIs and monitor team progress, ensuring digital marketing campaign and organizational objectives are met. Develop and implement social media and digital marketing strategies to engage customers and raise awareness on FTA’s initiatives and activities. Oversee all social media channels, including content creation, publishing, and engagement, to build brand awareness, drive traffic, and increase engagement. Oversee a team of digital marketing and social media professionals and work closely with other departments to ensure that all marketing efforts align with the company's overall objectives.

• Successfully increased FTA’s score in the Digital Government Enablers annual assessment for the KPI related to promoting FTA’s digital services. This was achieved through the development and execution of a multi-channel promotional strategy that effectively raised awareness of the FTA’s digital services among key stakeholders and the public.
• Achieved an “A” score in TADAT's assessment for the pillar related to “Communication with the Taxpayers” by implementing a comprehensive communication strategy that ensured clarity, transparency, and accessibility in all taxpayer interactions.
• Successfully increased FTA’s 7 Stars rating from 3 to 4 in the KPI related to the website by implementing strategic
• Elected to be a participant for “Mohammad Bin Rashid Excellence Award” for the “Government Communication” category.

Work cross-functionally to lead strategic and tactical workflows for FTA’s communication portfolio, including identifying, planning and executing key events, campaigns and roadshows to increase tax awareness and education in the UAE. Develop and execute digital communication plans aimed at increasing website traffic, leveraging SEO, social media, email marketing, and paid advertising strategies to drive engagement, improve visibility, and maximize traffic to the website, ultimately enhancing the FTA’s online presence and supporting its digital transformation efforts. Oversee the department’s annual budget for all communication and awareness initiatives, ensuring efficient use of budget spend to meet strategic objectives. Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to identify, analyze, and interpret communication requirements related to tax legislation and laws. Conduct in-depth market research to identify and analyze communication gaps within the market. This involves gathering and evaluating data on audience perceptions, competitor strategies, and industry trends to pinpoint areas where communication can be enhanced. Lead and manage the “Awareness” social media calendar and work with third party vendors to execute awareness campaigns through “Social Media Influencers”.

• Successfully increased FTA's score in the TDRA’s annual evaluation of digital platforms by implementing targeted improvements across key performance areas.
• Managed the complete communication rollout for FTA's new digital platform, overseeing all phases from initial announcements to post-launch support. This included developing and executing a comprehensive communication strategy that covered internal briefings, stakeholder engagement, and public awareness through various channels.
• Successfully increased FTA's LinkedIn follower base, positioning it as one of the highest among all federal entities.

Acted as the main SPOC for FTA’s new digital platform and the Corporate Tax Launch in collaboration with PwC and EY. Manage FTA’s website content, ensuring it is up-to-date, user-friendly, optimizing navigation, and enhancing the overall user experience. Additionally. Develop and execute strategic marketing plans, digital campaigns, and an annual communication roadmap that align with the organization's long-term goals and objectives. Liaise with local and federal entities to organize and execute co-marketing campaigns aimed at increasing tax awareness across the UAE. Served as the main SPOC for external FTA partners such as the Ministry of Finance (MOF), DLR, and Planet. This involved managing communication, collaboration, and coordination between FTA and these key partners.

• Successfully launched the DTS (Digital Tax Stamp) program in collaboration with DLR, overseeing the entire communication process from planning to execution.
• Successfully launched eDirham 2.0 and the Tax Residency Certificate in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance (MOF). This involved leading the strategic planning, development, and execution of both initiatives, ensuring they aligned with government objectives and enhanced the efficiency of public services.
• Serving as a member of FTA’s Youth Council and appointed as the media supervisor, responsible for overseeing the council's media strategy and ensuring effective communication with the broader audience.

End to end campaign management with media, creative, and PR agencies Manage social media and digital communication for the enterprise campaigns to generate leads and drive traffic to the webpage Plan and execute retail/shopper communication plans to target our B2B2C customers Manage all devices launches for enterprise with brands like Apple and Samsung Assess digital campaigns through reporting sessions and work on optimization plans with the media agency to meet and overachieve benchmark in CPL and CTR Plan campaigns in alignment with the market research and strategy teams in order to achieve high benchmarks in BHI and TOMA

• Vocal point for key product launches such as iPhone & Samsung devices through alignment with partners on branding material for retail stores, website, & social media.
• Utilized digital marketing to generate leads and assess conversion rates in alignment with the sales departments

Plan and organize all enterprise related events (Gitex, CAB, CEO Forum) Develop different communication channels for different campaigns and targets depending on the objective Manage the enterprise/ government base and work on retention plans Upsell/cross-sell products and services through CVM activities based on ARPU, customer behavior, and interests Work on customer centric campaigns that are done through CLMS Initiate and establish partnerships for the enterprise segment with brands like (Uber, Careem, Zomato, VOX cinemas) to provide our base with non-telco benefits

Manage leads and align on them with the channel marketing and sales SPOCs Support the CVM team for different CVM activities Assess sponsorship opportunities for large enterprise and government Organize and manage enterprise related events Plan and manage the SMS communication calendar Work on deliverables required for the enterprise & government roadshows

• Managed showcases with partners for the GITEX stand
• Managed customer engagement events such as CAB and CIO Roundtables
• Initiated different partnerships with different brands to increase customer satisfaction