Alumni interview, Workforce manager, FIFA 2022 World Cup

Meet our alumni Nathalie

Six years ago, a young Thai/Belgian student named Nathalie was starting a new life at AMOS Paris. After a first year of Bachelor studying Science and Chemistry, she completely changed her mind and decided to come to AMOS to study Sports Business. Six years later, this young and promising individual, described as « very conscientious, engaged and always focused » by her ex-director Joanne Macrae, is working as Workforce Manager, in Qatar for the FIFA 2022 World Cup.

For this young and ambitious woman, networking and volunteering experiences have paved the way to success. It was while volunteering for the Paris 7 World Rugby Series that she discovered her will to work in the sports industry, it was by volunteering in London that she found her passion for sporting events, and it is through a co-worker that she got in touch with her current employer. As she says, « your network is key, the world of sporting events is really small », and her experience proved her right.

A year ago this month, Nathalie arrived in Qatar and was getting ready to take part in the organisation of one of the World’s most famous sporting event: the FIFA World Cup.

Her job in Qatar

She is one of the workforce operations managers, supervising over 3000 people.

« Our role is to plan and assist in all workforce areas, this includes workforce and headcount planning, catering, accreditations, uniforms, and trainings. We have over 60 operational sites, so it is about making sure that everyone is at the right place at the right time, knows their missions and has enough time to rest ».

Nathalie is handling a wide range of missions which requires a particular set of skills, « patience, attention to detail, emotional intelligence, being open-minded, thinking outside of the box and the ability to handle pressure ».

When asked about her favourite thing at work, Nathalie did not start with missions she was given but with the enjoyment she found in managing and meeting people; « the diversity of nationalities (88% of the workforce in Qatar is composed of foreign workers) and their backgrounds make this job exciting, people are coming from all over the world and are working as one team ».

Having an « international approach, being open-minded, having the capacity to adapt yourself to any situation and being able to work in a multi-cultural environment » are the things she benefited from when undertaking the Global Sport Business Masters at AMOS London.

Her bucket lists

Everyone who knows about the journey of this brilliant person would probably think: What can you expect from your professional career when the first event you are working for is the Football World Cup?
It sounds like starting your meal with the cherry on top of the cake. But for her, the exciting part is in the variety of events that are – yet – to be organised;

« Most of the people I am currently working with already know each other from other mega sports events organised in the past, such as the Olympics, Formula 1, the previous Football and Rugby World Cups or the HSBC 7 series. So, when I hear all these amazing experiences, I do not want to choose, I want to live them all! »