“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking, and don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart,…you’ll know when you find it.” – STEVE JOBS, APPLE

Personal Information

Name | Declan Doheny

Date of Birth | 17 OCT 1985

Nationality | Irish

Current Address - Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Phone |  +971 (0)55 912 0321

Email | declandoheny@gmail.com

Skype | declandoheny

LinkedIn | ae.linkedin.com/in/declandoheny

Experience

HEAD OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS - ABU DHABI GOVERNMENT MEDIA OFFICE (ADGMO)
FEB 2021 - Present | Abu Dhabi, UAE

The Abu Dhabi Government Media Office (ADGMO) is responsible for communicating the vision and news of the Abu Dhabi Government and its leadership locally, regionally and internationally.

Senior management position reporting directly to the Director General, Her Excellency Maryam Eid Almheiri, with key responsibilities for developing a comprehensive integrated marketing strategy in period of transition for ADGMO.

  • Orchestrate the creation, planning and execution of brand and performance marketing campaigns across a broad range of media channels to meet national and international objectives and targets.

  • Lead a bilingual team of social and digital specialists to deliver workstreams across key government departments

  • Designed and executed international brand positioning projects for several key govt entities and their initiatives

  • Deployed necessary technology and processes to digitally transform & capture the needs of the organization. 

  • Manage global media agency relationships and align the overall communication strategy with key stakeholders across multiple government entities.

  • Developing and managing a global PR and ePR program (Media, Social influencers, Bloggers). 

  • Optimizing and monitoring the website using digital marketing tools. 

  • Developed new strategies to enhance crisis management across all government departments, aligning with international best practices.

HEAD OF DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS - ADNOC DISTRIBUTION
July 2019 - April 2020 | Abu Dhabi, UAE

ADNOC Distribution (the Middle East’s largest fuel and convenience retailer) is a division of ADNOC GROUP, the world’s second most profitable organisation. In December 2017 ADNOC Distribution was publicly listed, the first and only division to do so, instigating a radical transformation of the business from a 47 year old government department to a transparent commercial organisation.

This was a newly created role responsible for planning, developing, implementing and managing the overall digital marketing and communication strategy for the Middle East’s largest fuel and convenience retailer at a most critical time in its history. It was a natural promotion as a result of my previous work as the department’s senior manager.

I planned and implemented the department’s restructure - recruiting and expanding it from 2 to 14 marketing and communication professionals. I was responsible for the marketing strategy and omni-channel planning to build awareness for key campaigns at significant business moments, driving customer acquisition and engagement with our brand, ensuring consistency in tone and aesthetic across all consumer touch points within the UAE and externally.

I led integrated planning to support key business innovations, such as investor relations and loyalty programs, across owned and paid channels, working cross functionally to bring the launch plans to life, and reviewing post-launch performance.

Live reporting systems were built under my direction for C-Suite to access, ensuring total and complete transparency of all digital marketing activity and online presence. In addition, brand awareness monitoring was established across multiple regions, focusing on key customer segments and target audiences.

SNR MANAGER DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS - ADNOC DISTRIBUTION
Dec 2018 - July 2019 | Abu Dhabi, UAE

I led and owned the digital transformation strategy for ADNOC Distribution, which entailed a comprehensive upgrade to its digital marketing and communications capabilities, and involved work in the following key areas:

  • Directing all digital marketing channels and budgets. 

  • Devising and implementing a social media strategy (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat). 

  • Building and optimising digital marketing programs across bottom-funnel channels (SEM, affiliate, paid social, email) and directing third party agencies. 

  • Supporting senior management with reports on key business metrics and marketing initiatives.

  • Building real-time reports with bespoke commentary for the Board of Directors. 

  • Establishing the first brand reputation monitoring. 

  • Developing and managing a global PR and ePR program (Media, Social influencers, Bloggers). 

  • Optimising and monitoring the website using digital marketing tools. 

  • Managing digital development and responsible for developing new and creative tools for the business. 

  • Rolling out of brand specific CRM strategy leveraging the group loyalty program. 

  • Building an attribution model to understand the effectiveness of each marketing channel. 

  • Deployment of global media plans driving customer engagement and time spent with brand.

  • Managing cross-agency teams to effectively deliver against creative, media and PR objectives.

  • Build attribution model to understand the effectiveness of each marketing channel

  • Deployment of global media plans driving customer engagement and time spent with brand. 

  • Managing cross-agency teams to effectively deliver against creative, media and PR objectives.

HEAD OF BRAND & DESIGN - SPECIAL OLYMPICS WORLD GAMES ABU DHABI 2019
April 2018 - Dec 2018 | Abu Dhabi, UAE

Taking place on the 50th anniversary year of the Special Olympics movement, Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019 was the largest sports and humanitarian event in the world in 2019, and the biggest event to ever take place in the UAE. The World Games will welcomed 7,500 athletes from more than 190 nations across the globe to compete in 24 Olympic-style sports across 9 venues in Abu Dhabi and Dubai from 14-21 March.

I was tasked with building and developing an internal brand and design team capability to support and deliver all the creative for the largest sporting and humanities event in history - The Special Olympics World Games, which included: 

  • Conceptualising and developing a global brand campaign (#MeetTheDetermined) to promote the world games, as well as the distribution of the campaign across multiple markets. 

  • Production of all advertising assets for TV, radio, print, OOH, digital, and experiential. 

  • Hiring, managing and mentoring a team of 18 creatives across multiple disciplines, including Graphic Design, UX design, UI design, Video Production, animation, event design and photography. 

  • Working closely with large brand partnerships and sponsorship to amplify the event and drive awareness. 

  • Coordinating between Special Olympics Global and the local organising committee on all relevant sign-offs. 

  • Supporting creation of the integrated marketing strategy. 

  • Effective communication and management of senior stakeholders’ expectations throughout the lifecycle of the project, delivering clear and concise insights on a regular basis. 

  • Collaborating internally to distribute the marketing plan process across all touch points, working with experts within the marketing organisation to develop integrated, end-to-end marketing plans. This included - development of assets, ensuring alignment of proposed tactics and creative direction with key goals and objectives, regular reviews and refinement, and implementation and optimisation. 

DIGITAL & SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER - CONTENT STRATEGY - Etihad Airways
April 2014 – July 2017 | Abu Dhabi, UAE

Role - Devising communication and digital marketing strategies to drive online traffic to Etihad's social platforms and commercial website. Developing and managing digital/social media marketing campaigns. Brand management. Overseeing the social media video content strategy for the company. Managing media and digital agencies. Managing online brand and product campaigns to raise brand awareness. Competitor analysis. Tracking conversion rates and making improvements based on tangible insights. Utilising a range of techniques including paid search, SEO and PPC. Responsible for planning and budgeting effective media campaigns. Benchmarking and reporting to the business.

BRAND & DESIGN MANAGER - Etihad Airways
September 2011 – April 2014 | Abu Dhabi, UAE

Role - Devising communication and digital marketing strategies to drive online traffic to Etihad's social platforms and commercial website. Developing and managing digital/social media marketing campaigns. Brand management. Overseeing the social media video content strategy for the company. Managing media and digital agencies. Managing online brand and product campaigns to raise brand awareness. Competitor analysis. Tracking conversion rates and making improvements based on tangible insights. Utilising a range of techniques including paid search, SEO and PPC. Responsible for planning and budgeting effective media campaigns. Benchmarking and reporting to the business.

GRAPHIC DESIGNER - INCISION DESIGN AGENCY
January 2011 – December 2011 | Galway, Ireland

Role - Worked predominantly in print, delivering high quality design solutions in areas such as identity design, way-finding, vehicle graphics and promotional material. 

Graphic Design / Creative Direction / Creative Execution / Project Management / Event & Exhibition / Campaign Development / Online Content/ Online Marketing / SEO / User Experience / Adobe Creative Suite / Team Management / Print / Web / Way-finding / Photography / Image Retouching 

GRAPHIC DESIGNER - TG4 - IRISH LANGUAGE TV STATION
August 2010 – September 2010 | Galway, Ireland

Role - Worked on both print and multimedia platform, focusing on identity design, promo design, short animated uppers and set design. 

Graphic Design / Creative Execution / Project Management / Campaign Development / Video Editing / Animation  / Adobe Creative Suite / Print / Web / Photography / Image Retouching 

Education

B.A (Honours) in Design in Visual Communications - Athlone Institute of Technology (Ireland)

  • Graphic Design

  • Front End Development

  • Typography

  • Multimedia & Computer Studies

  • Photography

  • Illustration

  • Historical & Theoretical Studies

  • Business Administration

  • Communications

  • Marketing

Leaving Certificate Honours - Davis College (Mallow, Cork, Ireland)

  • Irish

  • English

  • Mathematics

  • Tech Drawing

  • Materials Technology Wood

  • Engineering

  • Art & Design

 

SKILLS

Social Media Skills - Analytics / Project Managment / Reporting / Campaign Strategy / Communications / Campaign Tracking / Targeting / Paid Media / Benchmarking / Management / Creative Development / Competitor Analysis / User Journey / User Experience

Design Skills - Illustration / Photography / Layout / Typography / Art Direction / Social Media / Brand Implementation / Design Management / Creative Development / Front End Development / Motion Graphics / Video Editing / Adobe Creative Suite 

hobbies & interests

 

Travel & Adventure / Rugby / Live Music / Photography / Architecture / Cinema / Hiking / Cooking / Comedy / Visual Arts / Gallery’s and Exhibitions

Referees

References available upon request or alternatively you may visit my LinkedIn page ae.linkedin.com/in/declandoheny