With opportunities to join UEFA EURO 2024 in Germany now live, UEFA share with us what it will be like to be part of the event transport division where there are nearly 120 position available by getting the views of those already part of the team, all united by one big goal: hosting a month-long football festival in summer 2024 in Germany.
As of now (July 2023), 480 new job opportunities are open to join UEFA EURO 2024 in Germany. Most of these positions are operational ones that are based in the ten venues Berlin, Cologne, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Gelsenkirchen, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich and Stuttgart. Nearly 120 of the positions, open for applications right now, are in the event transport section.
Alanna from Canada, Manuel from Germany and Nathanaël from France are three employees in the transport area, that have shared some impressions of their job and their life in Germany with us:
For Manuel, Target Group Operations Specialist in the transport team, it is really special to have a tournament “dahoam”, as he likes to mention. The German grew up close to Stuttgart, having VfB Stuttgart in his heart. Yet, he spent the last five years working for FC Bayern Munich. His kids, 2 and 4 years-old, haven’t decided sides yet. What is for sure, though, is that they will be rooting for Germany when the European Championships are hosted from June 14th until July 14th in the ten host cities.
Nathanaël, a French national that is part of the arrivals/departure team. Although he doesn’t speak any German he moved to Frankfurt for the UEFA EURO 2024 - as a football fan, something that he could not miss. His experience in Germany so far? He says: “I like football. I like travelling. I like visiting airports. There is nothing that I don’t like about my life here.”
Alanna, a Canadian national, is part of the transport team as a Host City Manager. She has been previously working on five different continents for major sporting events such as the World Cup, Olympic Games, Formula 1 and the Superbowl. She is the mother of two children, aged 7 and 8. Apart from her own family, it is the “event family” that Alanna really enjoys. “It’s all about the camaraderie”, she says. “There is nothing more beautiful than getting through the rollercoaster ride of preparing a tournament as a team.”
“It’s all about the camaraderie”, she says. “There is nothing more beautiful than getting through the rollercoaster ride of preparing a tournament as a team.”
Alanna, Host City Manager
Alanna never planned to work in the event industry. She says she never saw it as a career path, but once in the industry, she realized how many different options there were. It has been a similar journey for Nathanaël, who started with some short-term event roles of two or three weeks, such as for the Europa League Final 2018 in Lyon, the beginning of his career-path in football. Manuel, on the other hand, had his first event experience at the UEFA EURO 2020 in Munich, when his employer offered him a release from work for the event period – an opportunity that Manuel was very happy to take.
But starting from their first experiences, what made all of them stay in the event industry?
Alanna’s favourite feeling at the job is “magical moments, when the plan that you have created and built comes to life.” She describes working in events as “addictive”, always wanting more. She mentions that you need a certain drive and passion to do the job, but what you get out of it, is hard to describe with words.
For Nathanaël, it’s the adrenaline spikes. “No day is the same”, he says. “We have a plan, but we also know that we have to be prepared to face the unexpected. When organising the transfers, there will be cars, but no guests. Then there will be guests, but no cars. We always need to be flexible and fast in handling the changing circumstances.”
Being asked about the qualities, that a person should have for being a good fit for the job, the three of them have similar opinions: flexibility and problem-solving skills. Manuel adds: The on-site positions will be co-ordinating roles. It’s like a puzzle, that you need to put together. You might plan everything a year in advance, but then there might be an event happening that you could not expect and that you need to handle fast. Flexibility and the ability to handle unsolicitated situations is absolutely important for a job in this area.”
Alanna, Manuel and Nathanaël: Three different personalities, three different languages, three different life stories. But they all have one thing together: They are united for the one big goal: hosting a month-long football festival in summer 2024 in Germany.
The Transport Team at EURO 2024 GmbH is split in four divisions.
You are interested in one of these or many other roles and want to become part of UEFA EURO 2024 in Germany? Join Alanna, Manuel, Nathanaël and the rest of the UEFA EURO 2024 team and apply here.
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