Listen to the interview in French only (mp3, 4.7 MB)
Laure leads the "Information Systems Service Management" teams responsible for IT applications in production environments.
After graduating as an engineer at Ecole Polytechnique Féminine, in 1997, I joined the Vallourec Group as a project engineer based in the United States, where I implemented an integrated ERP solution featuring sales, stock, production, purchasing and account management capabilities.
When I returned to France in 1999, Vallourec offered me a position as a project engineer with the Group's IT division. I carried out SAP integration work relating to planning, production management and logistics activities.
In 2002, I was assigned to the sales department of the subsidiary V & M Tubes, where I led an organization-centred project to standardize the sales processes and information systems of the subsidiary's French and German companies.
In 2006, I was promoted to this subsidiary's IT supervision team. Working under a German line manager, I was in charge of the financial, controlling and investment management processes, working with a team of three in Germany. We set up a unified information system covering all of the company's functionalities (e.g. sales, production, finance, etc.) at the subsidiary's European locations in less than two years.
Since January 2009, I am leading a Franco-German team of around thirty people. Our objective is to satisfy the needs of internal customers relating to their IT applications running in production environments. Examples of our activities include analyzing problems as they occur and suggesting improvements.
As this department has only recently been created, it is my responsibility to define and implement an efficient organization (applying IT best practices and deploying the ITIL methodology and appropriate tools for managing our activity), as well as selecting suitable suppliers.
I leverage my co-workers' expertise by organizing regular team meetings and providing individual line management.
My short-term goal is to fine-tune the performance of this new department, before taking on a position as head of IT for a business unit.
What attracted me to Vallourec - and has kept me from looking elsewhere – is the fact that all my jobs have been interesting, featuring ambitious missions, responsibility and great freedom of action.