#AmazingJobsAtSafranNacelles - François-Xavier – “Pulling people together in an emergency is what I love doing! "

His curiosity and rigour are matched only by his capacity for innovation and his attraction to complex subjects. In a nutshell: François-Xavier loves challenges! Armed with a law degree, he began by training as a self-taught computer engineer to become a consultant, before taking on a master’s degree in supply chain while pursuing a university diploma in Chinese. 

Pulling people together to win 

After five years in various transport companies in the Le Havre region, his atypical career leads him to Safran Nacelles, where he completed his block-release training as a logistics project manager at the age of 33. He was then recruited to streamline the supply of the Airbus A320neo chain, which was experiencing sharp production ramp-up. A real puzzle that he managed to solve by putting forward a solution based on the Kanban⁽¹⁾ method, which will subsequently be taken up by other programmes. “It’s one of my greatest professional prides,” he explains. I understood that innovation had its place at Safran Nacelles, and that proposing game-changing breakthrough ideas was encouraged." 

He then continued in Supply Chain, before joining the Technical Department to manage the project to upgrade the nacelle life cycle data management software. “What I like about transverse projects is that you have to bring people together to win. The more difficult the challenge, the more motivated I am!" 

A bridge between two worlds 

When the position of Incident Manager was created in the Information Systems Department, he had no hesitation: this was the new challenge to rise up to! “While digital transformation is a performance lever, it also increases vulnerability to computer failures,” he explains. “The slightest failure of one of the 130 applications we use at Safran Nacelles can block the entire business! My role is to identify failures that carry a high impact potential, and to remedy them as soon as possible.” For a little over three years, François-Xavier has been living at the pace of the developing emergencies. And he likes it. "Here again, the key to success is knowing how to rally people together. When IS Support is notified of a failure, my role is to detect its criticality and, if necessary, set up a crisis unit to resolve it. Around the table, two worlds come together: IS specialists and business function teams such as Production, Design, Customer Support, etc. In a matter of only a few hours, a bridge between the stakeholders needs to be successfully established so that they can find solutions together. The best route is the direct contact.”

Making sense of the role 

Restoring a service or application is not always easy or simple. However, his career has allowed François-Xavier to acquire a very extensive knowledge of Safran Nacelles, while his computer skills help him understand the issues. The rest is based on communication… and enthusiasm! “I like the idea that my work can help prevent disasters,” he summarises with a smile. “It is important for me that my job makes sense, and I apply this same approach to the company in which I operate. Safran’s commitment to reducing the carbon footprint of air transport is a source of pride for me, and it makes me all the more committed to ensure that nothing hinders the production of our nacelles!" 

What's next? “I changed trajectory enough times to know that career plans don't always go as envisaged... but are often better than expected! One thing is certain: I still have plenty of challenges to get my teeth into in this position." 

(1) a visual project management method that uses maps or labels to organize and track tasks or physical flows.