French-born SEGULA Technologies is a global engineering group active in all industrial sectors: energy, automotive, aerospace, rail, naval, life sciences and telecoms. More than 12,000 employees (5,000 in France) support the Group’s customers in all aspects of the energy transition. “Our technicians and engineers work directly on site (in France or abroad) or in design offices,” explains Sonia.

The projects are numerous and highly diversified: “All areas of activity are looking to move away from fossil fuels and towards low-carbon solutions. We help them to replace internal combustion vehicles with electric vehicles, to reduce the weight of aircraft to reduce their ecological footprint… We also work a lot on optimising processes and looking for energy savings. This is what we call Industry 4.0.

The Group relies on its Research and Innovation division to keep abreast of the latest trends in ecological transition. “It’s a bit like our watchdog unit, tracking down the technologies of tomorrow. We work on 200 research projects every year, which enables us to be at the heart of our industrial customers’ challenges.

SEGULA also relies heavily on in-house training. All manufacturers tell us that a lack of skills is holding back their development,” points out Sonia. To make up for this shortage of know-how, we train thousands of employees every year in France and abroad at the SEGULA Academy. This in-house training organisation is Qualiopi certified, a guarantee of quality for the Group’s employees and customers!

We’re also promoting gender diversity internally, because we believe that this is a key issue for the future of industry,” she adds. The technologies we design are designed to be inclusive. Gender diversity brings greater diversity of ideas!

What innovations are currently mobilising SEGULA’s teams? “For example, we have developed a project called Green Deliriver, in partnership with a consortium of partners including GRDF. It will be released at the time of the Paris Olympics, in less than 500 days! The concept? A river shuttle powered by renewable energy, responsible for transporting very heavy materials on the Seine.

Another current project is REMORA, an underwater compressed-air energy storage system. “Offshore wind turbines are more efficient than those on land, but storing renewable energy is a problem. With this solution, the energy is stored directly under the wind turbine and then distributed directly to the electricity grid as and when required. It’s a project run in collaboration with universities and other companies, and we’ve just launched the demonstrator. It will be deployed in the field by 2025.

On land, the Greater Paris project will make it easier to get around Paris by 2025. Tomorrow, I won’t have to take three metros and an RER to come to Nanterre to work,” explains Sonia. With the new Grand Paris line 15, I could make the journey in 35 minutes instead of an hour. When we say we’re changing the world, it may sound conceptual, but the applications of our work are very real!

The Group is growing fast, and now more than ever it needs people (and brains) to accelerate the decarbonisation of industry. We plan to recruit 6,000 people worldwide by 2023, including 2,000 to 2,500 in France,” says Sonia. And if you want to work abroad, there’s no shortage of opportunities!

Of course, all the professions linked to the energy transition are concerned, but not only that. SEGULA is also hiring in the digital sector, “but applied to industry”. For example, to work on on-board systems for electric vehicles and aircraft.

“One of our customers is building Gigafactories that will manufacture the electric batteries of tomorrow for the automotive sector. For this project, we’re looking for people with a degree in chemistry or automation. As the skills required are very rare, we will then train them in-house. In any case, technologies are evolving so fast that what you learnt a few years ago at engineering school or university is often no longer applicable in the workplace!

Cybersecurity has also become a critical issue for many companies that want to secure their data… but also the journey of autonomous vehicles to avoid accidents. “Our experts also work in the defence and aerospace sectors,” adds Sonia.

Looking for a job near you? “Our 40 national sites are very close to our industrial customers and quite close to universities. We recruit not only throughout France, but also in 27 other countries!

In a group the size of SEGULA, the career prospects are almost endless. However, you’ll never be lost in the crowd. “What’s important to us is the individual. Career paths are tailored to the individual’s wishes. A young graduate who joins us in Lyon can learn car design, first in France and then with other manufacturers in Turkey or China. If they prefer to change business sector, that’s also possible, as we have a highly developed sectoral mobility policy. Just like functional mobility, for example to become a manager or an expert in your field”.

“After the Covid period, we realised that it was more complicated to create links remotely. And that’s what our teams were lacking! To meet this need for informal exchanges, the Group organises a monthly afterwork event in its branches. It’s a convivial occasion that can also take the form of a breakfast or snack. “We carried out an in-house survey before it was introduced, and the results were very positive. Our employees enjoy spending time with their colleagues and learning from them. It’s a strong point that we’re going to continue to emphasise.

Beyond these many advantages, Sonia Fosse’s best argument remains the importance of the projects carried out in-house: “Future generations will judge us on our current actions to combat global warming. It’s what we do today that will count in the future!

Do you want to make yourself useful and give meaning to your job?