Operations Manager, Victoria Al Khoury works in Qatar for our Operations
& Maintenance business. She started out her career in Dubai as an
electrical site engineer, and after few years, when her son was born, she
made the decision to move industries and so shifted to interior fit out,
and latterly maintenance and facilities management (FM). She moved to Qatar
four years ago to work with a local FM company and last year she joined
AtkinsRéalis ’s Ministry of Education Headquarter project.
What’s your current role?
As the operations manager for the Ministry of Education and Higher
Education Headquarter project, my role is to oversee the whole project
operations, by engaging with the client, understanding their needs,
managing and coordinating with our subcontractors, supervising and
improving the performance of the team, and supporting all departments
within the project (including both the hard and soft services). I also
coordinate with various departments within the company such as HR,
procurement, and finance, as well as managing the quality of the service we
are providing to our client.
Why did you join AtkinsRéalis ?
My engineering background along with my experience in Qatar made me a good
match for the position. I joined AtkinsRéalis Lavalin last year for various reasons;
Joining a multi-national organization such as SNC-L is always an advantage
for my career. AtkinsRéalis Lavalin’s reputation in the market is outstanding and
the company has many great initiatives such as promoting sustainability and
clean energy. The company also promotes integrity and equality, diversity
& inclusion (ED&I), and provide training and development programs.
How do you balance work and home life? How does AtkinsRéalis support you in
this?
Being a mom of two kids and an operations manager makes my day full. It’s
very important to always set priorities at home and at work, I delegate
some chores to my wonderful nanny, so it gives me time to keep my work –
life balance I try my best to spend quality time with my family and friends
when I come back home!
AtkinsRéalis Lavalin have given me a lot of support, offering flexible working hours
when needed, and by encouraging me to take care of my own wellbeing. The
company has launched many initiatives to promote work-life balance, and the
latest initiative is Happify, an application that helps employees build
skills for emotional wellbeing, physical health, resilience, and lasting
happiness.
What advice would you give women looking to enter the FM job market?
Facilities management is a very dynamic field where we face a lot of
challenges every day, but the passion of helping people and solving the
issues is what keeps me motivated. FM is a growing field with an
ever-increasing shortage of talent, so I advise any women looking to break
into the industry to learn more about FM through various courses, or by
following the FM trends and latest technologies. I believe it is much more
accessible to women than many other industries, and it gives us the
opportunity to innovate. Strong technical skills and an equally strong
personality will help you to become successful.
What benefits can gender diversity bring to our clients and projects in the
region?
Having a diverse workforce on our operations & maintenance projects can
bring a lot of benefits to us and our clients. A diverse workplace allows
us to have more ideas and processes, that can help us overcome the daily
challenges we face on a project. This diversity of employees has bought a
broader range of skills to our project, as well as a diversity of
experiences and perspectives which has helped us increase the productivity.
Where do you want to go from here?
My plan is to keep learning in order to achieve personal and organizational
goals from technical to financial capabilities. While growing into the FM
industry with a leading company, I will continue to work with full
dedication to perform my role and responsibilities effectively and deliver
value to the business. I see myself growing into a role where I can lead
multiple projects in the future.
Why equality, diversity and inclusion matter to us
At AtkinsRéalis , we make sure that everyone has an equal voice. We believe
in respecting and empowering our people and creating an environment where
everyone is encouraged to contribute. Ensuring that everyone feels
encouraged to share their ideas isn't just the right thing to do, we
believe it drives innovation and improvement. This is why we're always
actively looking to diversify our talent pools.
Learn more about equality, diversity and inclusion at AtkinsRéalis and how
we’re creating a culture we can be proud of
Do you want to join a company that is committed to
equality, diversity and inclusion
?
We are looking for people that want to make a difference in operations and
maintenance. If you are looking to learn, grow and upskill, we’d love to
hear from you. Browse our
jobs in the Middle East
and apply today.
Would you like to know more? Not ready to apply?
Join our talent community
to stay connected and engaged with us at AtkinsRéalis .
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