Program Director

Mélanie

En charge des projets marketing chez WAYDEN, je suis passionnée par les sujets de management de transition, gestion de projets, marketing automation, community management, et de stratégie marketing.

Article publié le 31 July 2026

(*) As a measure of confidentiality, the identity of the interim manager and the client are changed

 

1. BACKGROUND

The customer is a global expert in electrical specialties and advanced materials for high-tech industries.

Present in 35 countries with more than 50 industrial sites and 18 R&D centers, the company develops tailor-made solutions and provides key products to its customers to meet the new technological challenges that will shape the world of tomorrow.

With a growing turnover (€1 billion) and nearly 7,000 employees, the client has an industrial history of more than 130 years. After refocusing on high value-added activities and development through external growth, the company is organizing itself as an integrated group with the deployment of a Core Model.

 

2. DISPOSITION

To do this, the company, through the Group IT Department, is looking for an experienced interim manager who can:

  • Assume the role of BUzIT Program Director and successfully deploy Wave 1 according to the established schedule, participate in the planning of the suite.
  • Supervise the team (20 internal FTEs, 12 external), on functional and development professions, based in Gennevilliers, Lyon and partially remotely. This team now has weaknesses in terms of leadership on the project.
  • To act as an advisor to the CIO, which in turn reports to the CEO in the context of the BUzIT programme, both on aspects inherent to the programme and on governance and organisational issues.

For this reason, a dual experience as CIO and Transformation Project Management is expected. Beyond the technical knowledge inherent to the mission, the client is looking for a leader who will have to succeed in supporting and upgrading his teams but also in linking to the business contacts, for a successful entry into the solution. High availability is expected.

Nicolas LANGLOIS, with his industrial experience as Program Director and IT Director, will take over the management of the program. His analytical mind, his commitment and his human qualities will allow him to quickly take charge of the outline of the mission.

 

3. MISSION

After defining its Information Systems roadmap, the company launched the ambitious BUzIT program at the end of 2019, the objective of which is to define and then deploy this Core Model.

This Core Model is based on a unique and regularly updated version of the JDE ERP, which will allow all sites to access a single database, hosted and operated by an outsourcer and benefiting from a high level of security.

Lot 1 of the project (Process Modeling, Solution Alignment, Deployment Plan) ended in June 2020, opening with Lot 2 (Infrastructure, General Design, Detailed Design, Interface Development and Data Migration Preparation (including on the MES), Unit Testing and UAT), finalized at the end of 2021.

At the same time, the IS Groupe organisation has been significantly remodelled and strengthened. A BPO organization has been set up, which reports to the CEO. A Business Partner entity has been created and attached to the general management of the AM division.

The pilot site (in the Grand Est) was deployed in the summer of 2022 with difficulty, giving rise to a RETEX, leading to improvements in methodology and organization (New site deployment package, reinforced PMO and on-site presence, new Business Partner structure, new methodology for UATs, IS organization and BI reporting).

The fundamentals for good project management are in place: methodology, organization, communication.

Nevertheless, there are risks, mainly related to the availability and mobilization of the actors on the project: stability and robustness of the IS teams, change management and adherence to the operational level “sites”, availability and specific skills of local actors.

Today, “Wave 1” has been launched, which includes in particular the Gennevilliers and Barcelona (CIPROTEC) sites, each of which has its own specific risks.

The general management is fully mobilized on the project, which has multiple objectives: convergence on processes and good business practices, sustainability and rationalization of the IT tool.

 

The challenges now are:

  • Successfully deploy at a sustained pace and in good operational conditions for users
  • Continue the transformation of the IT organization

© Wayden 2026 - All Rights Reserved - Legal