Program coordination

Testimony

Laurence, Program management controller, Saint-Cloud

A female engineer

Nothing predestined Laurence, a management controller in the Military Programs Division, to make her career at Dassault Aviation. While studying at an engineering school running courses relating to the food industry, she also passed a post-graduate diploma in biotechnologies. She completed her academic path with a Master’s in “Quality Management” at the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce in Paris.

Thanks to her end-of-course placement, Laurence discovered the “Dassault family” and became part of it. She abandoned her original career plans with no regrets and ventured into aeronautics. Her placement was in the Total Quality Division, as part of a team in charge of improving the “after-sales” process (logistic support) of military aircraft.

The quality of logistic support is of strategic importance to secure customer loyalty: a fleet of aircraft can be used for 25 years! Today, after 9 years with Dassault Aviation, Laurence works with a Military Program Director. Her role in management control involves providing the Program Director with all the management data needed to run the program. Covering the technical and economical aspects as well as the time frame, she is constantly in contact with the design offices, production, flight tests and the sales teams.

What about equality? “It’s true that most engineers in the company are male,” she says. But women are made to feel very welcome in this job. In my case, there are three women out of six people in total.” Laurence is also proof that it is possible to have a career and a family. “I know how to keep things in perspective and separate the two. But when I take photos of planes home to my three young children, they’re fascinated. They think I’m the one who builds them.”