HR Operations
Discovery/Eurosport: 2018 Olympic Games
Role: Embedded Consultant, 2016–2018
Opportunity
A newly awarded European Olympic rights-holding broadcaster needed a centralized operational system to support the rapid hiring, onboarding, payment, accreditation, and logistics management of 900+ employees, freelancers, vendors, and contractors across Europe for the 2018 Olympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Key challenges included multiple worker classifications across different countries, complex payment processes tied to local labor laws, tight Olympic accreditation deadlines, and coordination demands spanning HR, Finance, Legal, Procurement, and Operations—all without a unified platform to manage workforce data, compliance, and payment workflows.
Approach
After evaluating multiple technology vendors, I recommended Salesforce as the preferred platform based on its scalability and cross-functional integration capabilities. I then led the operational design and development of the Games Management System (GMS), a centralized workforce platform built specifically to support Olympic staffing and logistics. In this role, I:
Designed the operational framework and backend workflow requirements
Defined data architecture for onboarding workflows, approvals, payment tracking, accreditation, and logistics
Collaborated with HR, Finance, Legal, Procurement, and external staffing partners to align workflows and compliance requirements
Built scalable onboarding processes across Norway, Sweden, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, France, Poland, the UK, South Korea, Finland, and the United States
Integrated onboarding, contract execution, accreditation, payment approvals, and logistics tracking into one centralized system
Results
Successfully onboarded 900+ staff, freelancers, vendors, and contractors across multiple international markets
Streamlined onboarding, approval, accreditation, and payment workflows into one centralized system
Reduced manual coordination through automated Salesforce workflows and notifications
Enabled cross-functional alignment across Operations, HR, Legal, Procurement, Finance, and external vendors
Supported critical Olympic accreditation deadlines through centralized tracking and reporting
Built infrastructure supporting Games-time staffing, travel coordination, invoicing, and payment reconciliation
Impact
The GMS became a foundational platform enabling the broadcaster to successfully mobilize a large-scale international Olympic workforce under aggressive timelines and complex regulatory requirements. By combining operational strategy, systems design, and cross-functional execution, I delivered a workforce management solution that improved efficiency, scalability, compliance, and Games-time readiness across the organization.
“Robin was instrumental in the successful design and implementation of our Games Management System (GMS), delivering a scalable workforce management platform that supported more than 900 employees, freelancers, vendors and contractors across multiple countries in preparation for the Olympic Games.
She brought exceptional operational expertise, translating complex business requirements into efficient, automated workflows while aligning stakeholders across HR, Finance, Legal, Procurement, Operations and the platform vendor. Her ability to simplify complex processes, anticipate challenges and drive cross-functional collaboration was critical to the project’s success.
The GMS became the operational backbone for onboarding, accreditation, logistics and payment management - significantly improving efficiency, visibility, and compliance under demanding Olympic timelines. Robin is a highly capable and trusted leader who consistently delivers practical solutions and outstanding results on operationally challenging, high-profile programs.”
