Moza al-Naimi’s career has flourished since starting at the international oil company in 2003 as a fresh business administration graduate. Since then she has held multiple positions within the Finance Department, starting as a vendor accountant, before progressing to the role of head of accounts payable.

A Correspondent/Doha

For one young, talented Qatari woman working at the country’s largest offshore oil producer, Maersk Oil Qatar (MOQ), the nation’s development and growth over the past decade has come to mean something deeply personal.
“As Qatar’s energy industry has grown, so has my company’s role in producing the nation’s oil to support its development. For me, this has meant more career opportunities, more support and more responsibility. In many ways I’m the walking example of the successful approach to Qatarisation,” says Moza al-Naimi, currently head of Human Resources Services at Maersk Oil Qatar.
Moza’s career has flourished since starting at the international oil company in 2003 as a fresh business administration graduate. Since then she has held multiple positions within the Finance Department, starting as a vendor accountant, before progressing to the role of head of accounts payable.  
Over time she has also benefited from MOQ’s one-to-one career coaching, mentoring and being part of its Qatari Leadership Talent Pool (QLTP), all of which have supported her in broadening her skills, and more recently her transition to another department.
She now leads a team responsible for government services and employee payroll in Human Resources.
Sheikh Jassim bin Saud al-Thani, Maersk Oil Qatar’s Head of Qatarisation, said: “The Qatari Leadership Talent Pool (QLTP) is a key pillar of our successful Qatarisation Strategy and has resulted in more Qataris joining and progressing in their careers with us. The QLTP helps high-performing employees, like Moza, to define a clear results-driven path to potential promotion.”
Julie Zawadzki, Qatarisation Development Advisor at Maersk Oil Qatar added: “Moza’s keenness to develop her leadership skills by facing new challenges and acting on mentors’ feedback to consider and apply different approaches to working, has meant that she is now championing continuous improvements in the services her team delivers - creating a real sense of personal achievement - and importantly helping deliver greater value to the business.”
For over 20 years, Maersk Oil Qatar has been safely and reliably operating the Al Shaheen field in close partnership with Qatar Petroleum. Originally considered to be marginal and unattractive for development, but today the field contributes over a third of Qatar’s daily oil production.
Creating long-term value from this important national asset requires significant investment of both capital and of highly-skilled industry professionals and in particular, Qatari leaders of the future like Moza.
“Being part of a company that continues to invest in my development, that has a reputation for overcoming some of the industry’s toughest technical challenges and that is part of one of the world’s biggest conglomerates with operations and career potential in 130 countries worldwide, gives me tremendous confidence about the future,” says Moza.
This confidence is strongly echoed by Nathalie Rush, her line manager and Maersk Oil Qatar’s HR director who has helped to oversee Moza’s career progression to one of the company’s aspiring female Qatari leaders. “I’ve worked closely with Moza and I’m incredibly proud of the way her career is developing. She’s showed enthusiasm, drive and a real willingness to learn and take on challenges outside of her comfort zone.”
She adds: “Maersk Oil Qatar’s approach, where all our employees are expected to take on real responsibility, but with constant support and encouragement, is clearly the right way of motivating and offering progression and is something we’re strongly committed to, in order to attract, retain and develop local talent.”
In 2013, the company’s new Qatarisation Strategy set a goal to quadruple the number of Qataris in leadership and senior specialist positions by 2017. With that in mind, a series of bespoke programmes were launched to support the career and leadership development of Qataris; arming them with the skills, tools, confidence and support needed to manage people, lead projects or become senior specialists and leaders.
MOQ’s Qatari Development Programme (QDP), in particular, has been a key driver behind its success with Qatarisation. The QDP is focused on supporting Qataris in the first years of their career and acts as a bridge between education and the workplace. It includes a series of intensive workshops with external coaches and on-the-job support.
Again asserting the company’s commitment and goal to support Qatarisation, Sheikh Jassim says: “Our people are our greatest asset and development and growth can only be achieved with their help. The Al Shaheen field will be just as important to the State of Qatar in the future as it has been in the past, so we need to continue developing our people and offering growth opportunities wherever possible.”