ESSEC Appointments: Doctolib, Suez, Société Générale, Servier, Pompidou and more.

General management roles, international positions, in major groups or for iconic brands, in sectors as varied as tourism, health, culture, industry, distribution, food, social welfare and art. A round-up of the recent nominations within the ESSEC network.

Alexandre Desseigne-Barrière (IMHI 12) has been appointed CEO of Groupe Lucien Barrière, France’s leading casino group with a turnover of €1.3 billion, 7,000 employees, 19 luxury hotels and 140 gourmet restaurants including 12 Fouquet’s. Alexandre has spent his entire career with the company, holding the successive roles of Director of Transformation, Hotel & Catering Managing Director, VP for Executive Hotels, F&B and Transformation, and Executive VP for Strategy & Development.

Romain Guinier (E87) has been appointed CEO of the Colart group, the world leader in art supplies operating in 120 countries, with 1,100 employees and iconic brands such as Winsor & Newton, Liquitex, Lefranc Bourgeois, Conté à Paris or Snazaroo. He spent the first ten years of his career with L’Oréal, rising to the position of Consumer Products Director in Argentina. He then moved into the fashion sector in France, and was successively Deputy Managing Director of Celio, VP Europe of Louis Vuitton, CEO of Aigle and CEO of The Kooples Group. He is also a mentor with the EWA Boost’ programme for female ESSEC graduates (applications open until 30 June).

Damien Catoir (E05) has been appointed Executive Vice-President and Secretary General of the pharmaceutical giant, Servier, and has joined the company’s executive board. Also a lawyer at the New York and Paris bars, he worked for several law firms for more than 10 years before joining Atos, where he rose to the position of Legal Affairs Director and secretary of the board of directors.

Jean-Urbain Hubau (E04) has been appointed Managing Director of Doctolib in France. He began his career with Accor, where he rose to the position of Chief Financial Officer Hospitality Latin America. He then joined Edenred in Brazil, where he held various general management roles for 10 years, before returning to France to take up the position, within the same company, of Chief Operating Officer Fleet & Mobility Solutions.

Charles Van Labeke (M11) has been appointed CEO of Havas Health & You in France, the health sector subsidiary of the communications agency. He began his career in import-export with Nordic Pharma, prior to joining the Hartmann Group in Hong Kong, where he rose to the position of Managing Director. He then returned to France to join Havas. 

Sarah McKee (E04) has been appointed Deputy Secretary General of the Centre Pompidou-Metz. She began her career with BNP Paribas in New York, prior to joining Arkadin as a financial controller in France and Switzerland. She then moved to the culture sector as an administrator, initially with the Centre Dramatique National de Nancy Lorraine, followed by the Cité Musicale – Metz. 

David Lamy (E98) has been appointed Managing Director of the Waste Business Unit of Suez France. He began his career with Cap Gemini before joining the Suez group almost 25 years ago, and has held the positions of Financial Director for the Waste BU in Poland, Managing Director of the Water BU in Australia and New Zealand, and Director of Transformation, Strategy & Sustainable Development in France.

Marc Dunoyer (E91) has been appointed Merger & Acquisitions Director with Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking. He has been working for the banking group for 30 years, mainly in M&A in the transport, automotive, aeronautics and rail sectors. 

Damien Viel (E97) has been appointed Chief Digital & Marketing Officer of Banijay, one of the world’s largest content producers and distributors, with 120 subsidiaries in 21 countries and vast catalogue including programmes such as Survivor, Big Brother, Peaky Blinders, MasterChef, Marie Antoinette, Mr Bean and Black Mirror. He began his career in marketing with L’Oréal and Marionnaud before moving into advertising, initially for Carat at Aegis Media, followed by M6 Publicité, where he rose to the position of Deputy Managing Director. He subsequently moved to YouTube and Google, where he was assigned to the management of branding solutions for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He was then made Managing Director of Twitter France. 

Cécile Merlin (E91) has been appointed Senior Director Impact Industry Coalitions & M&A Integration of Mondelez International France, the snack food group with 80,000 employees worldwide and brands such as Oreo, BelVita, LU biscuits, Cadbury’s Dairy Milk, Milka and Toblerone. Her task is to assist the Chief Impact & Sustainability Officer (CSO) on a sectoral level, in addition to ensuring ESG due diligence and defining environmental roadmaps for new subsidiaries to the group. She has been working for the firm for more than 30 years, in marketing and communication roles.

Jean Sébastien Baschet (EXEC M07) has been appointed Director of Institutional Relations & Partnerships and Chief of Staff of the cosmetics division of the Seqens group, the world leader in pharmaceutical synthesis, which boasts 10 R&D centers and 24 production plants relocating paracetamol and other vital molecules in France. Prior to moving to the health sector, he spent 20 years in publishing, media and communications, including a position with Hachette Filippachi (Lagardère Active), a teaching post at the Paris School of Journalism, management of the press agency PixPlanete, and the relaunch of the weekly magazine L’Illustration.

Marie-Sarah Dib (E10) has been appointed General Counsel and Executive Committee member with Vallourec, the French metalwork group with a turnover of €3 billion, €300 M in profit and 16,000 employees in 2021. Also a lawyer at the Paris bar, she spent 10 years in various law firms prior to joining the Ministry for the Economy, Finance & Recovery as a corporate-law project head. She then moved to the legal affairs department of Saint-Gobain.

Marie-Agnès Bousquet Rudy (E89) has been appointed Director of School Activities and Educational Solutions at Editis. She began her career with McKinsey before moving into publishing, initially as Deputy Director of Hachette Education, then Managing Director of Nathan Maternelle et Primaire.

Karen Vancleemput (E03) has been appointed Chief Marketing, Digital & Customer Officer of Brico Dépôt, which boasts around 150 outlets in Europe. Her career in communications began in the fashion sector with Chantelle, Celio and Chevignon, prior to her appointment as multi-channel Marketing Director with Make Up For Ever in Europe. She was then made Global Head of Marketing, Communication & Digital of FBD Group, the European leader in fitted kitchen franchises.

Jérémie Fierville (E05) has been made a partner with Signature Litigation, following 9 years with the legal firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, and 8 years at the helm of his own firm, Fierville Ziadé. A specialist in business litigation and arbitration, he also teaches at Paris Panthéon-Assas. 

Jérémie Thomas (E07) has been appointed Chief Product Officer of Stonal, the platform which ensures the reliability of large-scale property data to optimise yields in the sector. He began his career in digital project management with Actualys, prior to moving to the Luminess group, where he rose to the position of Director of Health Products and Social Welfare. He was then made Chief Product Officer for the real estate start-up Habx, which offers a support solution for property acquisitions. 

Cédric Curtil (E95) has been appointed Director of CentraleSupélec Venture, an early-stage risk capital fund for start-ups from the engineering school’s ecosystem. He began his career as a worker for Alstom, followed by freelance journalism for Le Figaro, before moving into telecommunications, initially with SFR, where he rose to the position of Director of Strategic & Financial Planning. He then founded the operator Fluiid, which was acquired just two years later by Darty Mobile. His career took a turn into banking, with the successive roles of Director of Development with Boursorama and Director of Retail Strategy & Innovation France with Société Générale. He is also a member of the accreditation committee with the competitiveness unit of Finance Innovation, and Managing Partner of The Venture Boutique, which facilitates collaboration between major companies and start-ups. 

Pacôme Rupin (E08) has been appointed Managing Director of Fondation Le Refuge, which aims to prevent isolation and suicide among LGBTQI+ people in the 14- to 25-year-old age group. The charity’s 45 employees and 400 volunteers coordinate 20 welcome centres in France, a 24-hour hotline and awareness campaigns in schools. Pacôme has combined experience in consultancy, gained through a stint with Deloitte; in social entrepreneurship with the SOS group and at the helm of a communication agency for the charity sector; and lastly in politics, as a parliamentary deputy during President Macron’s first term. 

Luc Delage (E11) has been awarded the Assurance 2023 Talent Prize. Deputy Managing Director in charge of the economic and financial steering of the MAIF group, he previously worked for the French Prudential Control Authority as an insurance commissioner followed by deputy to a head of brigade. 

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