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.
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.
As the embedded consultant, I:
Designed the operational framework and backend workflow requirements
Defined data architecture for Position Records, Person Records, 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
Supported operational readiness timelines tied to Olympic accreditation and Games-time deployment milestones
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, the project delivered a workforce management solution that improved efficiency, scalability, compliance, and Games-time readiness across the organization.
“Working with Robin was transformative for Focus Fundraising. She streamlined our internal operations and overhauled our business development systems, giving us clearer processes and stronger infrastructure. She also identified the key roles we needed to support our growth and led hiring and onboarding of new team members. Her strategic review of our business helped us pinpoint our most promising revenue streams and make confident decisions about where to prioritize. We’re operating with far greater clarity and alignment because of her partnership.”