Sazka Group continues to build its consortium for the Fourth National Lottery License Competition, as it has now confirmed four new UK hires for its transition, procurement, supply chain and data network teams in London.
Joining Chairman Sir Keith Mills and Bid Director Alastair Ruxton on the group’s UK National Lottery bid team are Emma Young as Transition Lead, Gerry Walsh as Supply Chain Management Area Lead, Rob Clarke as Organisation Leader, and Steve James as Network Area Lead.
The majority of the new hires for the group share a similar background to the recently appointed Chairman and Bid Director having played important roles in the London 2012 Olympics.
These four hires for the UK National Lottery bid team come after Mills revealed in a recent interview with the Evening Standard that he will be putting some of his own fortune behind Sazka, taking a minority stake if it wins the lottery contract.
As Transition Lead, Young will head the transition and exit plan part of the UK National Lottery ITA process under the wider operations stream effort in the ITA response, reporting to Tony Khatskevich, the Operations and Technology stream leader. She is an accomplished senior leader and mentor in the technology and sports event sectors, combining strategic, operational and technical experience to drive business transformation and key outcomes.
Young brings a wealth of knowledge and experience from previous roles such as being an Independent Non-Executive Board Member for the International Federation for Rugby League, an advisor at the International Olympic Committee, Head of Telecommunications Services at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Organising Committee, Vice President IT- Business Change & Delivery at ARM, and Head of Network Deployment at Ericsson.
In his Supply Chain Management Area Lead role, Walsh will be responsible for designing and developing the future company’s overall supply chain and procurement strategy and implementation to maximize the process efficiency and productivity.
Walsh is a supply chain expert in the UK and has experience as an international business leader, including as CEO of The Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply, Procurement Director at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and working in procurement at American Express, Premier Foods, Associated British Foods and Procter & Gamble.
As Organisation Leader, Clarke will be responsible for HR and Organisation. He has 25 years of HR experience in FMCG, retails and major sport events, including Safeway, Carlsberg and MFI Retail with previous working experience including being an HR Advisor for the International Olympic Committee, Advisor to the HR Director in Expo Dubai 2020 and HR Director of European Games in Baku 2015.
In his Network Area Lead role, James will be responsible for the designing of all related data communication networks and the definition of solutions suitable for the future company’s operation including architecture, processes, related services, deliverables, maintenance, etc, reporting to Khatskevich, the Operations Project Executive.
James is an experienced technology consultant who specialises in the specification, implementation and operation of telecoms networks and services. He defined the network requirements for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and since 2014 he is a technology advisor to the IOC, providing impartial assessment and advice on network infrastructure projects for all Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.