JOB OF THE WEEK: Paris 2024, Venue Overlay Manager

In order to deliver the Paris 2024 Olympic & Paralympic Games concept, a venue portfolio covering about one hundred-plus Olympic and Paralympic venues needs to be designed, planned, installed, delivered and operated.

This programme not only includes the 38 competition venues, the Olympic and Paralympic Village, the Main Media Centre & Media Village, and the Olympic & Paralympic family hotel, but also numerous additional venues that are nonetheless equally crucial to the smooth running of the Games (training facilities, logistics centres, bus depots, bus stations, etc.)

Responsibility for delivering these venues is shared between two separate entities:

• The OCOG (Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games), which is responsible for the overall organization of the Games and as such for making all the venues Olympic-ready, including delivering all installations, facilities and temporary infrastructures. This is traditionally referred to as “Venue Overlay” in the events industry.
• The Olympic Delivering Authority, SOLIDEO (Société de Livraison des Ouvrages Olympiques), which is responsible for delivering the permanent Olympic structures, either directly (the Olympic and Paralympic Village, the Media Hub, etc.), or through supervising the work of the contracting authorities (Paris Arena II, Olympic Aquatics Centre, Grand Palais renovation, etc.).

The unique impact the Olympic and Paralympic project will require ongoing management and coordination by the OCOG to guarantee the timely delivery of the entire programme to a joint schedule.

Reporting to the Director of Venues and Infrastructures, the Venue Overlay Manager spearheads the design and creation of all the Olympic and Paralympic overlay installations required for the delivery of the Games, in conjunction with internal and external design teams (external contractors) and the project’s key partners (SOLIDEO, venue owners and operators, etc.) who are responsible for delivering the permanent structures, facilities and infrastructures required for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

His/her responsibilities are notably as follows:

1. Lead a multidisciplinary team charged with delivering the temporary overlay installations for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. This team will consist of the OCOG’s technical teams and external contractors (planners, architects, consultancy firms, other technical Olympic experts required to deliver the Games, etc.), and will evolve over time as the OCOG grows.
2. Coordinate internal resources within the OCOG in order to determine and confirm the needs of each function at each site and develop the programmes for each Olympic and Paralympic venue (Venue briefs).
3. Coordinate external partners responsible for delivering the permanent venues, notably SOLIDEO but also all the contracting authorities and venue owners and operators, to ensure coherence between the Olympic configuration and the long-term/legacy configuration.
4. Spearhead the drafting of Olympic overlay installation plans (Block plans, overlay plans, etc.) to reflect the level of detail identified at each phase of the project. Liaise with SOLIDEO and the appropriate contracting authorities whenever the concepts, needs or technical requirements evolve.
5. Obtain the necessary approvals from the various stakeholders, and notably the IOC, the OBS (a subsidiary of the IOC responsible for TV coverage of the Games), the appropriate International Federations, etc.
6. Contribute to the Venue Use Agreements draft, spearheaded by the Venue and Infrastructure Team.
7. Take part of responsibility matrices, venue by venue.
8. Assist the Director of Venues and Infrastructures with the strategic and operational management of the temporary overlay programme. Participate in the design and procurement strategy for overlay structures and facilities. Put forward ideas for integrating innovative, technological and sustainable solutions.
9. Take part of internal and external reports on the programme’s progress in line with the management programme shared with SOLIDEO.
10. Develop and roll-out planning and budget management processes and tools for the Venue and Infrastructure Team.
11. In conjunction with the Finance and Administration team and in-line with the environmental and social ambitions set forth during the candidature phase, participate in the implementation of the procurement process to enable the portfolio of projects to be delivered.
12. Assume responsibility for the contractual follow-up of all contracts between the OCOG and the various external contractors, during both the design phase and the implementation phase.
13. Offer advice regarding the regulatory framework and overlay tools, help define operational arrangements and the project organisation.
14. Assist the Director of Venues and Infrastructures with the ramp-up and workload plan for the 2018-2024 period.
15. Prepare the transition phases between the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games and the post-Games dissolution phase, incorporating the retrofit and the return of venues to their legacy use.