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Anselme Clavier, Software Project Manager

Human resources

After finishing up his engineering degree in Fontainebleau, Anselme Clavier immersed himself in the world of onboard systems and software, where he currently holds the position of Software Project Manager at Safran Engineering Services in Villaroche. His responsibilities, however, have never been the same from one job to the next. He tells us all about his background and the exciting variety his work brings.

Anselme Clavier

From software developer to project manager

After receiving a technical degree in telecommunications and networks, followed by an IT engineering degree in Fontainebleau (where he specialized in telecommunications and onboard systems), in 2004 Anselme Clavier entered the workforce eager to learn and understand many different roles. For his final-year internship, he had already developed an application base to manage cell phone SIM cards and conduct SMS marketing campaigns. Once it was completed, Anselme joined an SS2I (computer services company). “I wanted to be able to vary and change up my responsibilities regularly,” he explains. For a bit more than two years, he was a JAVA design and development engineer. He was part of a team that developed a software application base for defense, as well as an electronic design support tool for radars.

In 2007, his career took another turn. He discovered the world of startups and participated in the development of numerous web applications, both corporate and technical. “That’s also when I became project manager. That was my goal: to start with the customer’s need, cost the proposal, justify it, work on the technical and functional specifications, the team management, and set up an offshore entity with China,” he says.

A variety of responsibilities for cutting-edge software projects

That’s what he’s doing now, 14 years later at Safran Engineering Services. “In 2013, I needed a new set of challenges. I had already worked with Marc, who is now my manager and who offered me a job,” he says. Anselme now juggles multiple projects for the company’s customers and partners, including one project where he supervised the development of an operational performance management tool. He mainly works on cutting-edge technologies for Non-Destructive Testing, such as the Triton project (video link). “These are all complex and challenging industrial issues. We helped scale up a tool for testing FAN blades on the Leap engine in France, the United States, and Mexico,” he explains. Currently, he’s also supervising the development of software that will spec 3D-woven composite parts.

Once again, I enjoy all the steps that a project manager has to take, starting with understanding the customer’s need and better calibrating it, if necessary. You really have to understand their business and their issues in order to bring them an appropriate solution. Then you have to work on the functional and technical specifications, the planning, the resources, and the associated skills. After that, it’s time to put together a solution and coordinate the teams and all of the people involved in the project at the company and the customer. The project finally ends a round of feedback, though very often there’s also equipment maintenance, defect removal, upgrades—what we call in-service support,” he says.

So what does Anselme like best about his job? “Nothing’s ever the same. Our projects are exciting from a technical, technological and business standpoint. We’re always having to learn from our customers, to really understand them in order to develop the right products. Interpersonal skills are really important for that. That’s also one of the things I like: those person-to-person interactions. Not only with the customer, but also with my teams, who I try to stay attentive and close to as their manager.” And when he’s asked what he sees himself doing after this, he starts talking about programs, not projects...