NEOM: NEOM has awarded two young Saudi nationals a work placement with the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team as part of its Graduate Opportunities in Work (GrOW) program.
This announcement is part of the wider partnership between the two organizations, signed last year, and comes ahead of the Formal E season finale in Berlin on Aug. 15. The Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team is looking to clinch the Drivers World Championship with team driver Nyck de Vries following his astounding back-to-back podiums achieved in the London E-Prix.
“Among the numerous shared aspirations across our partnership with the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team, one of the key areas we looked at when forming the relationship was to leverage opportunities for young Saudi employees,” Jan Paterson, managing director of sport at NEOM, said. “At NEOM, it is important to us to be able to both inspire and nurture the next generation of Saudi talent, [and] we are thrilled to provide our GrOW graduates placements in such a high-performance environment, which will be invaluable to their career development.”
This placement is the first of several opportunities at the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team’s UK offices, designed to offer a range of roles in the motorsport industry to high-caliber candidates who are part of NEOM’s GrOW program, an initiative designed to provide Saudi graduates with an opportunity to work alongside some of the world’s brightest minds at NEOM.
“Since the beginning of our partnership with NEOM, we have been looking at how we can best deliver on the shared values for both of our companies,” said Ian James, Mercedes-EQ Formula E team principal. “The team and NEOM share the ambition to create a greener future, and part of that is inspiring and enabling the next generation of talent. We’re delighted to welcome two highly motivated individuals to our team this year and not only offer them a great and valuable experience but also benefit from the knowledge and insights they will bring to the team.”
The program starts with two top-performing candidates from the pilot GrOW batch (2020), Ahmed Al-Hussain and Duaa Al-Zaher, and aims to build on the work experience they have obtained throughout their year at NEOM.
Al-Hussain is joining the placement at the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team in his chosen field of mechanical engineering, while Al-Zaher will be joining the corporate IT department. Both placements will commence this August and are set to last 12 months, giving the graduates the chance to have a fully immersive experience with the racing team and take key learnings back to their respective sectors at NEOM.