ESSEC Appointments: Fenwick, Nestlé, Rothschild, Criteo…

Alumni on the boards of major international groups, in the highest offices of government, and at the leading edge of entrepreneurship – here’s a selection of recent appointments within the ESSEC network.

Isabelle Cherrier (E85) takes over at Fenwick, the historic manufacturer of forklift trucks and the Franco-German leader in the logistics solutions market. She began her career in agri-food before moving to the group, where she has held a number of management positions. She will need to tackle issues such as automation, connectivity, safety and energy transition on behalf of over 40,000 clients.

Cynthia Tobiano-Rozenblum (E99) has been appointed Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Groupe Edmond de Rothschild and Managing Director of Edmond de Rothschild Holding. This Choiseul 100 alumna has spent more than 10 years working in the finance division of the renowned institution after reaching the position of Vice President at Goldman Sachs. 

Luc Denot (E94) has been appointed Business Executive Officer France/Benelux at Nestlé Cereals. He has worked for the agrifood group his entire career, holding a range of positions in the marketing and commercial divisions before becoming Head of Marketing and Commercial Development for France at CPW (a Nestlé and General Mills joint venture) and then Marketing Director for the continental Europe region.

Nicolas Rieul (EXEC M17) has been appointed Managing Director for Western Europe and France at Criteo. He is also President of IAB France, Vice President of the Mobile Marketing Association France, a member of the IAB Europe executive committee and a board member at Numeum. He previously held the role of Head of Strategy and Marketing. Prior to that role, he was Head of Mobile at Dentsu, the world’s largest media agency. 

Pierre-Etienne Durand (E98) has been appointed Head of Strategy and Corporate Development at Groupe Edmond de Rothschild. Also an INSEAD graduate, he began his career as a financial controller at Renault, before joining the world of consultancy, first at Oliver Wyman, then at Bain & Company, where he rose to the rank of partner. He has held management roles at Edmond de Rothschild since 2013. 

Jérémy Borot (E05) has joined the Cdiscount executive committee as Head of B2B Development, Data, Strategy and Innovation. After 12 years at McKinsey, where he climbed the ladder through roles in Paris, New York and Mexico, and two management roles at Natixis, first as Head of Growth Acceleration, Pricing and Sales Performance, then as Head of Performance and Client Experience, his goal will be to accelerate the growth of the Casino group’s e-commerce subsidiary, which offers over 100 million items and, in 2020, reported turnover of €2.2 billion. 

Jean-Louis Falconi (E86) has been appointed Head of International Relations at the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission after a long career spent building Europe and working in national security. Also a graduate of Sciences Po Paris and ENA, he has worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on multiple occasions, at the Treasury’s “Europe” office within the Ministry of the Economy and Finance, and at the European Commission’s Monetary Affairs department. He then worked for the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union, before becoming an ambassador and permanent representative of France to the EU Political and Security Committee, then to the United Nations and the international organisations in Vienna. Between these two roles, he joined the General Secretariat for Defence and National Security attached to the Prime Minister’s office as Director of International, Strategic and Technological Affairs.

Jean-François Ferret (E84) has been appointed to the role of Partner Executive Coaching at Visconti Partners. Working with heads of start-ups and major groups alike, he shares his 35 years of experience, including 20 years in high-responsibility positions: he successively held positions as Senior Vice President of Thomas Cook Europe, Managing Director of Thomas Cook France, Deputy Managing Director of American Express Travel France, Managing Director then President of Manpower France, Managing Director of Hertz France, Chief Executive Officer of Relais & Châteaux in France, and Chief Executive Officer of Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) in London.

Olivier Chesnel (E97) has recently been appointed Head of Group Finance at the Eckert & Ziegler group, a Berlin-based specialist in manufacturing radioactive components for medical and scientific purposes. He was previously head of finance and management control for the European side of the Isotope Products division. Prior to that role, he held multiple positions in finance and management control within a range of industrial and multinational companies in Germany.

Sandra Chiche (EXEC M12) has joined the executive committee of BVA, a market research and consultancy firm that specialises in behavioural analysis, as administrative and financial director. She began her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers, then Ernst & Young, before moving to service companies that specialise in services, luxury and retail, in both European and international roles. She was previously the Administrative and Financial Director and Director of Operations for the Mediterranean for the Synlab group.

François-Xavier Nottin (EXEC M05) has been appointed Managing Director France & Benelux at Curaleaf International, which develops therapeutic cannabis-based products in Europe. He remains President of Green Leaf Company, which designs and distributes hemp-based food and cosmetic products. He previously held managing director positions in the sports betting sector, at Bwin then at FDJ, in the online sector, including as AOL’s European Marketing Director, and in consultancy, in particular at Havas and Carat. 

Aurélien Pallain (E12) has been appointed Chief Strategy Officer at Preply, a language learning marketplace that puts millions of students and tutors in touch all over the world. He has been an international entrepreneur for almost 10 years: he was Vice President Marketing at Rocket Internet in Thailand, Chief Growth Officer at Lazada in Vietnam, Executive Vice President Marketing & Advertising at Alibaba in Singapore and Strategic Advisor at BuKuKas in Indonesia. He is currently based in Spain.

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