Expériences — Jihène Saadi

Experiences

Set the strategic direction for Airbus's infrastructure architecture across all Digital Domains, driving modernisation at enterprise scale and ensuring alignment with global Airbus standards.
Established cross-functional governance bridges between Cybersecurity, Enterprise Architecture, and Infrastructure — breaking down long-standing silos and accelerating decision-making.
Lead a senior team of 16 technical architects, setting the bar for engineering excellence and scalable solution design across the organisation.

Architected and delivered the end-to-end IAM strategy for a series of major M&A integrations (Airbus Atlantic, Aerostructures, ATR) — successfully harmonising identity frameworks across highly complex and heterogeneous technical landscapes.
Led Project Beluga, one of Airbus's most technically challenging carve-outs: the full separation of Airbus Canada from Bombardier, ensuring secure migration of legacy identities with zero business disruption.
Conceived and brought to market a business-facing IAM product that transformed compliance visibility for non-technical stakeholders — a rare bridge between IT security and business usability.
Steered a multidisciplinary team of 12 through high-stakes, time-critical delivery milestones.

Held full operational accountability for a pan-European and offshore delivery organisation of 100+ people across France, Spain, Poland, and India — ensuring uninterrupted IAM services for Airbus employees, suppliers, and external customers worldwide.
Owned the complete ITIL service lifecycle for mission-critical authentication and authorisation infrastructure, maintaining high-tier SLAs under demanding operational conditions.
Presided over Executive Steering Committees, reporting directly to senior Airbus leadership on KPIs, budget health, and risk posture — operating at full C-suite interface.
Delivered a step-change in operational efficiency through Lean transformation, automating legacy processes and eliminating structural redundancies.

Acted as a trusted senior advisor to Engagement Managers across global delivery teams, embedding a performance and quality framework that became standard practice.
Championed the shift to Lean-based IT delivery models — reducing waste, shortening delivery cycles, and instilling a culture of continuous improvement across geographically distributed teams.
Bridged the gap between technical execution and client expectations through structured 'Voice of the Customer' programmes and executive-level problem-solving workshops.

Spearheaded major commercial bids for strategic accounts including Airbus and EDF, leading cross-functional teams through complex, high-value tender processes.
Designed the governance framework for new project on-boarding, creating a repeatable and scalable model for transitioning from sales to operational delivery.

Built Sogeti's Industrial Cybersecurity department from the ground up — conceived the strategic roadmap, secured executive investment, and held full P&L accountability from launch.
Grew a new commercial portfolio in critical infrastructure and manufacturing, winning national-scale cybersecurity contracts and generating significant new business value for the practice.
Directed the end-to-end delivery of national-scale cybersecurity projects using Agile and Waterfall methodologies, maintaining full compliance with client SLAs throughout.
Recruited and developed a specialised team of OT security consultants and engineers, designing structured career paths and embedding a culture of technical excellence.
Conducted in-depth industrial risk assessments using EBIOS methodology and ANSSI standards, mapping complex threat and vulnerability scenarios for critical infrastructure environments.
Delivered the MARRS Project — establishing a comprehensive cybersecurity baseline for manufacturing assets across Airbus's European production plants, fully aligned with IEC 62443 global standards.

Directed all technical activities across a large-scale multi-shore organisation (Toulouse / Bangalore), ensuring full alignment with European programme milestones and quality standards.
Designed and implemented a standardised remote delivery process, supported by shared dashboards and reporting tools providing complete visibility into offshore progress.
Led the recruitment and skills mapping strategy for the offshore entity, building avionics systems integration capabilities to match European delivery requirements.
Served as the primary cultural liaison between French and Indian teams, designing and delivering targeted training to harmonise working styles and communication practices.
Coordinated all offshore activities between Toulouse and Bangalore, with an active role in business development in India.

Orchestrated the full integration and validation cycle for the Central Maintenance System and A350XWB information systems — including Secure Communication Interface, Avionics Server Function, and Open World Server Function — ensuring compliance with certification standards throughout.
Managed distributed engineering teams across France and India, synchronising complex testing activities with Airbus Centres of Excellence in Hamburg and Filton.
Governed technical deliverables from tier-1 suppliers Sagem and Rockwell Collins, presiding over programme reviews to mitigate risks and maintain On-Time/On-Quality delivery.
Led preparation and real-time monitoring of ground and flight test campaigns, translating test outcomes into actionable system evolutions and contributing directly to the maturity of A350 avionics.
Managed commercial bid activities (2010): conducted feasibility analyses, built financial models, and co-authored winning technical proposals.

Jihène Saadi