ESSEC Appointments: Danone, Nexity, Atos, Sanofi, Renault

Here’s a selection of the recent appointments from within the ESSEC network, where many of our alumni are taking on executive roles in multinationals. Hats off to them!

Antoine de Saint-Affrique (E87) was appointed CEO of Danone group, following executive management roles at Unilever and Barry Callebaut, the world leader in the cocoa industry. This makes him the 4th ESSEC graduate CEO in the CAC 40, after Pierre-André de Chalendar (E79) at Saint Gobain, Benoît Coquart (M95) at Legrand, and Nicolas Hieronimus (E85) at L’Oréal.

Nadia Ben Salem-Nicolas (E03) was appointed Assistant Director-General for Finance at Nexity group, alongside Véronique Bédague (E87). She had previously worked in corporate finance at Lazard and Goldman Sachs, before joining Bureau Veritas, the leader in certification services, as director of development, and then Danone, where she served in a series of roles as director of M&A, director of investor relations, and finance director for the Waters division.

Vincent Menuet (E03) was appointed secretary general for the French recovery plan, which will see €100bn allocated to creating a greener, fairer, and more competitive economy. This ESSEC and ENA graduate will be responsible for delivering the plan “quickly, effectively, and responsively, throughout France, in order to limit the pandemic’s impact and come out the other side stronger together”. He had previously alternated between roles in government auditing and various private sector roles, most notably as vice-president for contracts, marketing, and customer services at Airbus, and vice-president for sales and programmes at Faurecia.

Damien Catoir (E05) was appointed legal director and secretary of the board at Atos, the international leader in the digital transformation, with around 120,000 staff in 73 countries. A fine début in the CAC 40 for this ESSEC graduate who also holds qualifications from Normale Sup and Cornell and who has spent most of his career at law firms, first at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in New York, and then at Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier in Paris.

Jean-Urbain Hubau (E04) was appointed Chief Operating Officer, Fleet & Mobility Solutions at Edenred, earning a seat on the group’s executive committee. He began his career at Accor as a financial controller for the Asia-Pacific region, then as head of consolidation, and finally as CFO of Latin America. He has been working at Edenred for 10 years, where he managed the Mexican subsidiary before being appointed Director of Fleet & Mobility Solutions for Brazil and then all of Latin America.

Antoine Delcour (M01) was appointed director of finance at Euroapi, the new Sanofi entity dedicated to the production and sale of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), which is aiming to generate a turnover of $1bn and employ 3200 staff by 2022. He has been working for the pharmaceutical group for seven years, after starting his career in accounting at Unilever, before working in a variety of finance roles at Schlumberger in France, the USA, and Vietnam.

Jean-François Gal (M93) was appointed director of strategy and industrial performance at Renault group. He has spent ten years climbing the ranks at the automotive manufacturer, which has entrusted him with roles as the director of production, lead times, and stocks, as well as director of logistics and auditing in the Renault-Nissan alliance.

Sylvain Noailly (EXEC MBA 02) was appointed CEO of NutriDry, a group specialising in the design and production of dehydrated and freeze-dried meals, which has recorded a turnover of €25m and employs 77 staff. It marks a return to the food industry for Sylvain, who began his career at Danone and Sodiaal (Yoplait), before joining Rossignol group (Quiksilver) where he worked in a series of management roles, before founding Ilbaritz Consulting, an investment and consulting firm.

Julien Drouot-L’Hermine (E97) was appointed president of Perl and iSelection, two Nexity group subsidiaries specialising in buy-to-let investments and property development, respectively. He began his career at Cartier in New York, before joining Pierre et Vacances, where he climbed the ladder up to the executive team. For now, he has two priorities: to steer his employees through the pandemic and the impact it is having on our lives, and to develop his property ecosystem, which today numbers some 5000 dwellings.

Patrick Gavoty (E06) was appointed Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Ergon, the Pan-European investment fund that manages €1.5bn in assets. His mission is to support companies in Ergon’s portfolio in rolling out their CSR strategies, through aligning their values with those of the funds they invest in. It is an ethical role which is well-suited to this former Goldman Sachs employee, who manages a number of charities and a foundation for children and young adults in parallel to his career in finance. (You can also read his interview with ESSEC Alumni, here.)

To see all ESSEC appointments, check our weekly Appointments feed.

Have you spotted any other ESSEC appointments recently? Let us know!

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