An inside look at our operations jobs in Formula 1

At Atlassian Williams Racing, our F1 operations jobs make real impact. While drivers and race engineers are in the limelight, ops are the unsung heroes keeping the entire show on track. They ensure that every detail is in place.

Each season, F1 teams move over 1,400 tons of equipment across the globe. This includes everything from tools and car parts to race equipment and team supplies. Operations jobs are vital in ensuring our cars have everything they need to climb the grid on race weekend.

Our operations team enables the car to perform at its best when it matters most. Here, we’ll take a look at our F1 operations roles and hear from the talented team members who create our winning formula. 

Exploring our F1 operations jobs 

Operations jobs fuel our goal of taking our legendary team back to where we belong. We spoke to some of our ops professionals to look under the bonnet of their roles and find out how they contribute. 

Programme managers 

Our programme managers operate at the heart of car production. They take bright ideas from engineers and transform them into track-ready components.

Alexandru Bortea is tasked with turning these visions into reality. He described the role of an F1 programme manager in making the car go faster. 

“Engineers have an idea of what they want to achieve, and it’s all about how you convert that into a car part. It’s taking those ideas and turning them into a project plan, showing how we’re going to deliver them into the car. We take something from being conceptual and bring it into the physical world.  

“It’s great when we have a lot of ideas in the pipeline, and our operations jobs are all about how we convert them into real world components. I feel that’s where I play the biggest part, helping the team to understand how long they need to design a certain component and how long we’ve got available to design it, as well as identifying the right window to introduce it to the car.” 

For Maria Mirgkizoudi, there’s no better place to work as a programme manager than in Formula 1. 

“The best thing about working in operations in F1 is how dynamic the industry is and how fast it changes. It’s also very impressive to see how people are dedicated to what we are trying to achieve every year. My favorite moment in this job so far would be my first car build. I think the best moment was when we fired the engine. It was quite exciting to hear that.”  

Master schedulers 

Timing is everything in Formula 1, and that’s where Gerard Buta, our master scheduler, comes in. By ensuring every part of the car is delivered on time, even when deadlines get tight, he demonstrates our values of accountability and resilience in everything he does. 

This F1 operations job is critical to keeping schedules aligned.

“Scheduling is at the heart of manufacturing here and if we can schedule accurately, we can get projects completed sooner, get upgrades in place sooner and ultimately get performance to the track quicker. I started as a production engineer seven months ago, and now I'm a master scheduler, so there’s definitely loads of opportunity to develop in this role.” 

This role keeps everything from the design phase to the final assembly moving like clockwork. Gerard also shared how rewarding the role can be, especially when you hit key milestones in the development of the car. 

“My most memorable moment so far was firing the engine up in winter. It was just amazing to be standing in the race bay listening to the noise, surrounded by everyone, knowing we are almost there, almost at the track. Such a great moment!” 

Head of operational programme 

The head of operational programme is the driving force behind the scenes, making sure everything is in place and ready to go. Ciaran Perucca, who looks after chassis, bodywork, floor, and wings, lives our accountability value with a strong customer focus. He summed up the real impact of his role with his trademark humour: 

“How does my job help our car go faster? Well, without my job we wouldn’t have any components at the track, so we wouldn’t have a car!” 

Digging deeper, Ciaran went on to describe the scope of this operations job. 

“I manage all the activity from the operations side here in Grove, in terms of getting releases from engineering all the way through to getting components out to the track, as well as the whole manufacturing cycle in the middle. My vision for the future is definitely to be further up the grid.  

Race weekends are busy. I’m one of the team members here at Grove who spends a lot of time with the race team if we have a crash or there’s an incident, and I’ll be one of the first points of contact to then push that out into the factory here so we can start working on something before the actual components get back here physically.” 

Technical operations specialist 

This Formula 1 operations job is integral in getting teams singing from the same hymn sheet and ensuring that the plan is being executed smoothly. Jacob Dale, our technical operations specialist, works to foster collaboration and make sure there’s no bumps in the road. 

“As a technical operations specialist, one of my responsibilities is working with engineering operations and our IT department to define how we go away and implement some of the future processes that we’ve defined over the last few months.” 

For Jacob, the most exciting part of the job is seeing everything come together, especially after months of hard work and planning. 

“My favourite moment has probably been over the last few weeks, with the excitement of the start of the new season and performing really well. It finally felt like that initial jump forward that we’ve been waiting for since I joined a couple of years ago.” 

Advice for getting an operations job in F1 

Getting a job in F1 operations requires dedication, hard work, and a love for motorsports. With our early career programmes, we’re dedicated to helping people live out their dream careers. We asked our ops team to give some advice on how to get started in operations roles in F1. 

Alexandru Bortea shared: 

“Finish your engineering degree. If you’re not studying engineering, then try to get some sort of skillset related to programme management. Once you’ve got your foot in the door try your best every day, wake up with a purpose and you’ll get there. At Williams, the sky’s the limit! I strongly believe if you give your best, opportunities will come naturally.” 

Ciaran Perucca sees standing out in a crowded field as important to getting started.

“Try and find something that separates you from the rest. It’s super competitive getting into graduate schemes or placements in the industry. If you can explore different societies or something that gets your CV to stand out, I think that goes a long way.” 

Ready to apply? 

If you’re excited about the opportunity to join this forward-thinking team, Atlassian Williams Racing is the place for you. Our F1 operations jobs stretch across all facets of ops with each role critical to our success.

Explore our current operations jobs or register for our operations talent community to take the first step toward joining the team that’s shaping the future of Formula 1.