Ex-Sagem Défense Sécurité, «the Avionics GBU, which he now leads, stands out for its recognized expertise in flight controls, navigation, cockpit solutions, exterior lighting, critical computers and flight data management. It contributes to the safety and efficiency of today’s aircraft while preparing for tomorrow’s air mobility »details governance in its communication.
Since 2022, Valentin Safir has headed the group’s Helicopter Engines BU. The new director of the Avionics BU is not joining the group’s executive committee, for the moment anyway (his predecessor Franck Saudo joined the executive committee in 2023 following his appointment).
The French group (born in 2015 from the merger of Snecma and Sagem), specialized in aircraft, helicopter and rocket engines, but also aero and defense equipment, 92,000 employees, achieved a figure of business of 23 billion euros in 2023.
The aerodefense group faces, like its competitors in the sector, several major challenges: the energy transition and carbon neutrality by 2050, innovation and competitiveness, supply chain management and the rise in cadence and the integration of new technologies. Last June, Safran notably acquired Preligens, a start-up specializing in the analysis of military satellite images.
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-With “fires” lit all over the world, including at the gates of the European Union for two years, French – and European – defense policy is shifting into high gear. Consequence: EU countries must arm themselves in the face of omnipresent dangers. The firms operating in this sector are on all fronts and are seeing their missions multiply but also expand to new typologies.
An engineer at CentraleSupélec in 2000, Valentin Safir began his career at McKinsey Paris, joining the Sydney office as an associate in 2003, then a year later in Singapore, where he worked for almost 6 years and was promoted to engagement manager. He carries out around twenty missions on projects to improve operational performance (cost reduction, quality improvement, reduction of deadlines) for the industrial sector and services.
In 2010, Valentin Safir returned to France to Toulouse to join Labinal (now Safran Electrical & Power) as director of continuous improvement and supply chain for Europe and Asia. In 2013, Valentin Safir was promoted to president of Matis Aerospace in Casablanca, a joint venture between Safran Electrical & Power and Boeing specializing in electrical interconnection systems. Between 2015 and 2018, the former McKinsey manager managed the Safran Electrical & Power factory in Villemur-sur-Tarn near Toulouse, “at the head of a business unit of 700 employees and €300 million in turnover with three main activities: program management for Airbus electrical systems, manufacturing of electrical wiring systems, post-delivery services », he describes on his LinkedIn profile. In 2018, he was appointed president of Safran Engineering Services (in Toulouse), which provides techno engineering services for aero, defense and land transport. More recently, in June 2022, Valentin was appointed program director of Safran Helicopter Engines.
