ESSEC Appointments: Guerlain, Bouygues, Pimkie, Gameloft, Engie, Edenred, Cartier, Warner Bros, Fauchon, and More

General management roles, international positions, in major groups or for iconic brands, in sectors as varied as cosmetics, telecommunications, fashion, luxury, video games, media, hospitality and politics. A round-up of the recent nominations within the ESSEC network.

Robert Ophèle (E78) has been appointed CEO of the Accounting Standards Authority (ANC), an independent body which defines French accounting standards and represents France in this field on a European and international level. The French Government has entrusted the body with the task of preparing the establishment in Paris of the future European Anti Money-Laundering Authority (AMLA). Robert Ophèle began his career at the Banque de France, where he rose from banking supervision to the management of monetary studies and statistics and a posting with the Federal Reserve in New York, prior to holding the successive positions of Head of the Budget Department, Financial and Auditing Director, Deputy Managing Director of Studies and International Relations, Managing Director of Operations and Second Deputy Governor. He then took over the chairmanship of the Prudential and Settlement Control Authority (ACPR) followed by that of the Financial Markets Authority (AMF).

Fabrice Rigoulet-Roze (E93) has been made Prefect of Loire-Atlantique. Also a graduate of ENA and Sciences Po Paris, he has spent most of his career in public institutions, notably as Chief of Staff to the Ministry for Urban Development and Housing, the Ministry for Overseas Territories and the Ministry for Agriculture and Food, in addition to Prefect of Charente-Maritime and Martinique Island.

Gabrielle Saint-Genis (E94) has been appointed CEO of Guerlain. She began her career as a consultant with AT Kearney prior to joining L’Oréal, where she held various marketing management positions for 10 years, in particular for Garnier in Argentina, Maybelline in Brazil and Biotherm on an international level. She was then made Key Accounts Sales Director for the Group and European Cosmetics Marketing Director for L’Oréal Luxury. She moved to the LVMH Group as Managing Director France for Christian Dior Perfumes. Prior to this latest appointment, she spent 3 years as Managing Director of Make Up For Ever. 

Gilles Pélisson (E79) has been appointed Deputy Managing Director of Media & Development for the Bouygues Group. Also a Harvard Business School MBA graduate, he began his career with the Accor group in the US and Asia-Pacific, where he rose to the positions of CEO of Courtepaille restaurants and Chairman and CEO of Novotel hotels. He was then appointed successively to the positions of CEO at Eurodisney, Bouygues Telecom, Accor and Groupe TF1. He is also a Knight of the Legion of Honour and the National Order of Merit, in addition to Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters.

Sandrine Lilienfeld (E89) has been appointed Managing Director of Pimkie. This is not her first experience at the helm of a fashion group; further to management positions with Etam and Kookaï, she was CEO of NafNaf, CEO of Gérard Darel, acting Managing Director of Ekyog, CEO of Caroll International and Managing Director of Camaïeu. 

Alexandre de Rochefort (E96) has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Gameloft, the leader in the creation and distribution of video games, which operates in more than 100 countries and has 3,600 employees worldwide. He began his career with Schroders Securities in London as an equity analyst in the technology team. He then moved to Gameloft, shortly after its creation, and was made General Manger, followed by Chief Financial Officer.

Aurélien Fattore (M09) has been appointed CEO of Siradel, an Engie subsidiary working with telecom operators and cities worldwide to model cities and regions in 3D and roll out platforms based on infrastructure design and smart city planning. He began with Capgemini, before pursuing his career with Engie, initially as a financial controller, then held the successive positions of Director of Transformation & Strategy North, South and East Europe, Director of Operations for the same area, and Director of Business Development & Operational Excellence in International Solutions.

Jean-François Duboy (E07) has been appointed Managing Director of Group Vivendi Africa (GVA). He has spent his entire career with the Canal+ group, where he was notably a task officer in the Strategy Department, Head of Partnerships & Business Development of the Distribution France unit, Managing Director of Canal+ Madagascar and Director of Operations Africa.

Diane Coliche (E99) has been appointed CEO of Fleet Mobility Solutions at Edenred and has joined the Group’s Executive Committee. She began her career in investment banking with Morgan Stanley, where she spent 10 years between Paris and London. She then joined the Casino group as Director of Development and Mergers & Acquisitions, before taking over the financial management of the Monoprix group, for whom she subsequently became Executive CEO. She is also a member of the supervisory board of Rocher Participations (Groupe Yves Rocher).

Frédéric Jacquin (EXEC MBA 01) has been appointed Deputy President and Chief Operating Officer of Adisseo, the world’s 3rd leading animal nutrition group, with 2,250 employees and a turnover of €1.5 billion. He spent 15 years with Rhodia prior to joining the industrial group Bluestar Silicones, where he rose to the position of Vice-President of Marketing & Sales. He was then made Senior Vice-President of Elkem.

Anne-Sophie Guyot (E96) has been appointed Chief Financial Officer of the Longchamp group. She began her career in auditing with International Metal Service, followed by Thomas Cook France, before holding various administrative and financial management positions, in particular with Un Jour Ailleurs and Lacoste. 

Mercedes Abramo (MBA 02) has been appointed Deputy Chief Commercial Officer for Cartier International. Also a graduate of Columbia University, she has been working in the US luxury sector for 30 years. She began her career with the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company between Georgia and Hawaii, then moved to Miami, where she held the successive positions of Director of Front Office Operations at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa and Director of Revenue Management at Lows Miami Beach Hotel. She then joined Tiffany & Co in New York, holding various management positions, before moving to Cartier, where she has spent the last 15 years, rising to the management of the 5th Avenue flagship store, Vice-President of Retail and CEO North America. 

Philippe Bijaoui (IMHI 92) has been appointed Senior Vice-President of Europe and North Africa Development with Accor, in addition to joining the Executive Board for this area and the Global Development and D&TS Committee. Throughout his career, he has held several managerial roles for international hotel groups, including Head of Development Europe for IHG, Director of Development EMEA with the Wyndham Hotel Group and Managing Director of Christie & Co France, the leader in property transaction consulting for the European hospitality sector.

Christophe Moreau (EXEC MBA 02) has been appointed Secretary General for Compliance at BNP Paribas Cardif. He began his career with Axa as project head, prior to taking over the management of IT development at Winterthur (which has since merged with MMA Assurance). He then moved to AIG, where he held the successive positions of Director of Operations & Systems and Director of the Accidents and Health profit centre. He later became Secretary General and Director of Operations for the Banque pour le Commerce et l’Industrie de la Mer Rouge (BCIMR), a subsidiary of BRED, in Djibouti. He returned to France to join BNP Paribas Cardif, where he has held senior management roles for more than 10 years. He also spent time in South Korea, as chairman of the insurance board for the European Chamber of Commerce in Seoul.

Emmanuelle Bely (E91) has been appointed Executive Vice-president and Secretary General of Soitec, the world leader in the design and manufacture of semi-conducting materials. A member of the Paris and Madrid bars, she worked as an M&A lawyer for 14 years in France and the USA with French and international law firms. She was then made Legal Director and Human Resources Director for the Smithfield group, a position she retained further to the merger with Campofrio. She moved to the general secretariat of Danone, where she held various overseas positions, in particular for the Water and Africa divisions. She has also been a member of the Communauté des Entreprises à Mission [Community of Mission-based Companies] since its creation and sits on its administration board.

Laure Tahon (M07) has been appointed Vice-President of Corporate Legal Services at CGI, one of the world’s largest digital consulting and service companies. She began her career as a lawyer with Dassault Systèmes, followed by legal affairs manager responsible for corporate, compliance and contracts with a major digital services company. She then joined the legal affairs department of CGI.

Steven Libermann (BBA 97) has been appointed Executive President Southern Europe, UK & Ireland and Global Sales with the Nomad Foods group, the leader in frozen food, with iconic brands such as Findus, an annual turnover of around €2.9 billion, operations in 22 countries and 8,000 employees. He began his career in international marketing with Nestlé and Bic, prior to becoming senior advisor for various investment funds, followed by Managing Director of Senoble. He then spent 15 years with Findus, where he held the successive positions of Marketing Director and Sales Director France, Managing Director Spain and Managing Director South Europe. 

Frédéric Vaulpré (EXEC MBA 04) has been appointed Senior VP Glance of Médiamétrie, which analyses viewing figures for around 700 television channels in more than 120 countries. He also sits on the Board of Directors. He began his career in the advertising sector in London and Paris, with McCann Erickson and AACC. He was then made Head of International Development at Canal+ Régie, prior to Director of French and International Partnerships at Canal+, and Video Sales Director with StudioCanal. He left the audiovisual group to join Orange as Marketing Director Europe TV. More recently, he participated in the creation of the micro-credit platform, MicroWorld.com, presided over by Jacques Attali, and is responsible for the development and sales of MIPTV and MIPCOM, the international audiovisual content market. A member of the International Advertising Association (IAA), he teaches as member of the  Media & Entertainment Chair at ESSEC.

Ambroise Pascal (E96) has been appointed Chief of Staff to the Managing Director of Société Générale. He has spent his entire career with the banking group, holding positions in analysis and inspection, in addition to Sales Director, Professional and SOHO Market Director and Director of Retail Accounts for the retail banking branch in France.

Emmanuel Dubreuil (E91) has been appointed Chief of Staff to the Managing Director of Covéa, a mutualist group and European leader in insurance and reinsurance. He began his career as an in-house auditor with Gan, and head of actuary development for Scor, prior to joining Benfield (presently Aon Benfield) as head of analytics. He then moved to the general management of Guy Carpenter, where he took over the development of key international accounts. PwC France then appointed him to the role of Actuarial Lead Partner. He has been working for Covéa for 5 years.

Christophe Musy (E90) has been appointed Senior Vice-President and Director France of Stellantis, a French-Italian-American car group which owns the brands Alfa Romeo, Citroën, Chrysler, Fiat, Jeep®, Opel and Peugeot. He has spent his entire career with PSA Peugeot Citroën, holding senior management positions, notably as Director of Citroën Germany, Sales Director North and East Europe, Sales Director of DongFeng Peugeot Citroën in China and later Senior Vice-President and Director of the after-sales market for the PSA group. Prior to this latest appointment, he was Director of Operations ASEAN and Oceania at Stellantis.

Loïc Jégou (E05) has been appointed Vice-President Europe of Ceva Santé Animale, the world’s 5th ranking company in the animal health sector, with operations in more than 110 countries and around 6,500 employees. Also a veterinary doctor, he boasts 20 years’ experience in animal health, and has held the successive positions of Marketing Director, Business Unit Director, Country Director and Regional Director at Sanofi, Pfizer, MSD and Covetrus. 

Stéphane Cohen (M96) has been appointed Vice-President Europe & International of Mayoly Spindler, a dermocosmetic and pharmaceutical laboratory. He began his career with Bayer, where he rose to the position of Marketing Director, prior to joining Pfizer as Director of Operations for new products followed by Director of the Inflammation Business Unit. He then successively took over the general management of Norgine and Bouchara Recordati. Prior to this latest appointment, he was Chief Operating Officer of Quantum Genomics.

Pierre Lhoste (E98) has been appointed Managing Director of BDO Advisory, a department specialised in strategic and sectoral foresight within the BDO group, which is one of France’s leading accounting, auditing and consultancy firms. He spent the first 17 years of his career with IBM, holding positions such as Head of Strategic Marketing and Market Management, Head of Business Development in the public and other sectors, Chief of Staff to the CEO of IBM France and lastly Director of Analytics & Cloud. He then moved to Deloitte France as their data, analytic and artificial intelligence associate.

Cécile Moroni (E08) has been appointed CEO of Beth’s Beauty, a Norwegian-based skincare & beauty brand and chain of spas. Her career in consultancy began with Bain & Company and Roland Berger in Paris. She then moved to Oslo to join the Carlsberg group. She rose to the position of Director of Customer Marketing, prior to joining Nespresso, where she held the successive roles of Marketing Director and Strategic Planning & Project Management Director for the Nordic countries. In parallel to her career, she trained with the Cours Florent drama school and regularly performs on the  Norwegian stand-up scene at venues of various sizes. She has also been a Red Cross volunteer for more than 10 years. 

Dorna Hafezi (EXEC MBA 07) has been appointed Managing Director of Auticonsult, which supports autistic professionals in the aim of making business a ‘destination for neurodiverse talents’. She began her career as an analyst with CGI prior to the becoming a senior consultant for PriceWaterhouseCoopers, followed by Key Account Manager at IBM and Sales Director Key Account Gallia for Accenture. Prior to this latest appointment, she was Regional Director for Orange Business Services.

Thibaut du Fayet (E92) has been appointed Managing Director of Pherecydes Pharma, a biotechnology firm specialised in precision phage therapy for the treatment of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. He began his career with Bossard-Gemini, where he rose to the position of Senior Managing Director. He then joined Rhône Poulenc as Strategic Director prior to being made Marketing & Strategic Director for BioMerieux. He then spent 13 years with Transgene, notably as Vice-President of partnerships, alliances and programme management.

Anne-Christelle Vogler (E05) has been appointed Managing Director of HomeServe Energies Services, a national French network of some 4,000 professionals specialised in the installation, repair and maintenance of plumbing, gas and electrical installations. She spent the first 10 years of her career with the social welfare group Apicil, initially in marketing, partnership and distribution steering roles, prior to taking over the management of customer experience and joining the executive committee. She then moved into consulting as Associate Director of Marketing and Customer Relations with Kea & Partners. She has been working for HomeServe for 5 years.

Régis Bouffort (EXEC M03) has been appointed Deputy Managing Director of the Funécap group, a network of multi-brand agencies and omnichannel platform for funeral cover, France’s second leading funeral services provider. He began his career in banking, prior to spending 15 years with Malakoff Mederic, where he managed several local delegations. He then held the successive roles of Deputy Marketing Director for mutual insurance offers and Director of Development for the Auxia subsidiary. He has been with Funécap for 5 years, as Director of Cover, Assistance and Partnerships.

David Lamy (E98) has been appointed Managing Director of the Waste Business Unit of Suez France. He has spent his entire career with the group, initially with its Argentinian subsidiary, Aguas Argentinas, prior to joining the international financial department and later becoming Financial Director for waste activities in Poland and Australia. He was then made Director of Transformation and Director of Strategy & Sustainable Development.

Marc-Antoine Cléret (E09) has been appointed Director of Development France for Warner Bros. International Television Production. He began his career as a games and entertainment show advisor for TF1, which was followed by a move to Eléphant as Director of Creation and Development. He then took up a similar position with WeMake.

Christophe Vermont (E00) has been appointed Director of Transformation and Technology at Axa France. He began his career as a manager of insurance business services with Accenture prior to joining Axa, where he has spent the last 15 years, rising to the position of IS Director in charge of life insurance and distribution, then Chief Operating Officer and Executive Officer of Axa in Japan.

Sylvain Andries (E02) has been appointed Chief Financial Officer at Ubitransport. He began his career with Procter & Gamble before joining The Boston Consulting Group. He then held successive roles as financial director for several high-growth companies, such as Caudalie, Criteo and Vestiaire Collective.

Michael Beau (EXEC PROG 20) has been appointed Chief Information Officer of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) France. Also a qualified computer engineer, he boasts more than 20 years’ experience in the field of digital transformation and development with the Mars group.

Pascal Ghoson (E14) has been appointed Financial & Administrative Director of Energisme, a French nugget in energy management software platforms. He has held previous positions with Lazard, Goldman Sachs and Rothschild & Co in London and Paris, and founded Findrive, the first car leasing service in France based on non-binding subscription.

Benjamin Donsez (E09) has been appointed Chief Marketing Officer of Spareka, a platform selling some 8 million spare parts for electrical appliances, gardening, pools, electric gates, tools and heating systems. He began his career as a data analyst with fifty-five in Paris, then moved to California to specialise in search engine marketing with Ask.com. He became Head of Data & Analytics at Funny or Die, followed by Director of Digital Marketing with Hopsy. He returned to France to join Vestiaire Collective, where he rose to the position of Director of Acquisitions, before moving to Legalstart as their Chief Marketing Officer.

Nolwenn Godard (E98) has been appointed Director of the Data & Innovation Office for the Governor of California (USA). Her career began with Ubisoft, initially as an IT consultant, followed by financial management and lastly project management. She then moved to Paypal, where she rose to the position of Product Director, prior to taking up the same role for Galileo. She is currently also the Co-President of the Alliance for Inclusive Artificial Intelligence and member of the EFBA French Education Bay Area, Impact Atlas, Women Initiative Foundation, Hipower and LEAP.

Thomas Heckel (M09) has been appointed acting Director of the Strasbourg University and Strasbourg University Hospitals Foundation, a public interest organisation serving higher education, research and healthcare. He began his career as a financial analyst with the Transinvest Group in the USA, before returning to France to take up a similar position with Paref Gestion. He then moved to Strasbourg and became Treasurer and Director of Banking Relations for Lidl, prior to taking a new direction in teaching at Strasbourg University. 

Sandra Arrault (EXEC M13) has been appointed Deputy Director of Human Resources at the Curie Institute. Also a doctor of cellular and molecular biochemistry, she began her career as a head of research for Dow AgroSciences, prior to moving into human resources, firstly as a freelance consultant and then with the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA), where she rose to the position of Head of HR Prospects & Innovations. She was then made head of the international mobility and intercultural department at INRAE. 

Julie Labarre (EXEC M20) has been appointed Managing Director of Ateliers Amalphy, which produces high-end jewellery for the major brands on Place Vendôme in Paris. She moved into management following a career as a jeweller for Ateliers Péry and Van Cleef & Arpels. She also taught at the School of Jewellery Arts.

Joël Blin (E10) has been appointed Sales & Marketing Director of Fauchon l’Hôtel Paris. He has spent his entire career in the luxury hotel sector, initially with Starwood Hotels & Resorts where he held various management roles for the Westin Paris Vendôme, then moved to Marriott International, rising to the position of Senior Sales Manager. 

Jonathan Raimbault (EXEC PROG 21) has been appointed Head of Sales at ASL Airlines France. He began his career in the Brit Air subsidiary of Air France as a development manager. He then worked as a station manager at Orly and Paris CDG airports prior to joining the Air Partner group, where he held the successive roles of Group Quality Director and Commercial Aviation Director France. He has been working for ASL Airlines France for 7 years.

Guillaume Fornier (E09) has been made a partner of the legal firm Jeantet Avocats. Further to prior positions at Peltier Juvigny Marpeau & Associés and Eversheds Sutherland France, in addition to the legal management of the BPCE group, he now advises listed and unlisted companies in their strategic operations for acquisitions and transfers, capital operations, shareholder or partner relations and international M&A. He also teaches at Paris Saclay University. 

Aurélien Colson (E98), Director of ESSEC IRENÉ and professor of Political Science, has been made a Knight of the National Order of Merit. Previous positions include advisor to former Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, project head for the State Planning Commission, and member of the European Institute of Peace advisory committee.

Did you spot other ESSEC appointments in the news recently? Let us know! 

Want more content? Join us now so that we can keep bringing you news about the ESSEC network.

Image : © AdobeStock