Nathalie Graciani

Nathalie Graciani. Personal photo

““When a promotion is on the horizon.... Go for it ladies! Dare!” ”

"I would never have imagined it possible to enjoy a successful career in technology with a degree in foreign languages, business and management," Nathalie remarks, apparently still surprised despite almost three decades in industry. "It's a pretty good sign, it proves that even if don't have a degree in engineering, but are passionate about technology, then it is absolutely possible to have interesting jobs in high-tech companies.”

The daughter of expat teachers, Nathalie grew up in the Pacific and in North Africa. After passing her scientific baccalaureate she went on to do a joint Masters in business management and languages ​​applied to business (English and German). Today she is the Business Development Manager France for the Actuation division of Collins Aerospace. This means that she must detect opportunities to sell actuators [a device that regulates the flow and pressure of a fluid in order to drive a system] in military sectors, which occupies 70% of her time, and in the civilian sector, which occupies the remaining 30%.

“Even though I chose to study languages, I've always been really interested in technology,” she says, adding that she acquired her technological knowledge through intense personal work, “but also by being interested in industrialisation processes, by talking with engineers in design offices and by coordinating various departments in the framework of project management.” 

In fact “it was thanks to my fluency in German that I got my first job with an automobile supplier,” she says. A few weeks after starting work she was confronted by one of the two major challenges of her career when she was sent to Germany to present the company’s products to major car manufacturers. "The challenge was all the greater that I first had to master the fundamentals of how an engine works in French before learning the terminology in German.”

The second major challenge came a year and a half after she joined Collins Aerospace and was promoted to Programme Manager on primary flight controls for the A380. “I had to immerse myself in electronics, manage the design office in England that designs the electronic boxes, coordinate their manufacturing process, and undertake a performance review at the production site in India.” To acquire the necessary knowledge and achieve the objectives she had been set, Nathalie relied notably on the skills of a Technical Manager. “I’m very proud that the trustworthy relationships I established with my colleagues in Bangalore led to an improvement in performances,” she says. 

After 18 years in the automobile industry, Nathalie began to look for new horizons. She targeted the aeronautics, defence and rail sectors. “I received two very good offers, one of which was from Collins Aerospace [Goodrich at the time]. I don't regret my choice.”

She remarks that she "didn't tick all the boxes, but foreign groups, particularly Anglo-Saxon companies, tend to be less interested in what type of degree you have than in what you’ve achieved professionally, contrary to many French companies that find it problematic if you don’t have exactly the right degree.”

This is how she found herself in the Actuation division of Collins selling actuators to the aerospace and defence industries... which is very different from automobiles. So how did she do it? "You can't sell products if you're not interested in their design and manufacture,” Nathalie argues, "so when it came to learning new technologies, I was offered training; in addition, I learned a lot from talking with engineers who are passionate about their subject and always happy to share their technological know-how.”

Nathalie also holds technical responsibility regarding the military aspect. She explains that “the major part of my work concerns after-sales support and maintaining equipment in operational condition.”

When her two, now young adult, children were small, Nathalie limited business travel as much as was feasible. "Childhood years slip by so very quickly so you have to get the most out of the time you have with your children,” she stresses. So to ensure that she could pick her children up from the child-minder, "I took very short lunch breaks and I arrived early in the morning.” Her efforts went unnoticed by her manager at the time but he did remark when she left the office too early for his liking!

Nathalie has always worked in very male-dominated industries. But she says women have their place there even if they are still under-represented. To remedy this, women need “to have more self-confidence, and be less doubtful about their skills when a promotion is on the horizon.... Go for it ladies! Dare!”