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Client case · energy-from-waste (EfW)

Two EfW plant directorships, filled from an exhausted talent pool

258,000 tonnes of waste a year for 800,000 inhabitants of the Oise. The plant director and the deputy operations director, hired between November 2025 and July 2026, after approaching almost the entire French market.

The case in 30 seconds

  • 2

    directorships filled

  • 368

    profiles identified

  • 60%

    response rate

  • 8months

    from launch to the second yes

01 · The case in 30 seconds

The assignment brief

A public service site,two management roles

The assignment as it was entrusted to us, and the mission month by month.

Assignment briefIDEX · UVE de Villers-Saint-Paul × Volta Executive
Client
IDEX, operator of the EfW plant for the SMDO, the Oise waste treatment authority
Site
Villers-Saint-Paul, Oise (60): 258,000 t of waste a year, 188 GWh thermal and 117 GWh electrical
Contract
20-year public service concession, started on 1 April 2022, over €108m invested
Heat
Networks of Creil, Nogent-sur-Oise, Montataire and Villers-Saint-Paul, over 13,500 homes heated
3rd line
80,000 t a year of high calorific value waste, inaugurated on 25 September 2025
Positions
Plant director and deputy operations director
Talent pool
Energy-from-waste operators, waste treatment authorities, municipal utilities and mixed-economy companies, then cement works, heavy chemicals and industrial cogeneration · 483 profiles at close
Sources
Site data: public SMDO and IDEX files

The assignment, month by month

  1. Nov 2025Launch on two rolesFirst candidate presented on 13 November
  2. Nov 2025The scope shiftsA candidate approached for the deputy role proves cut out for the directorship: the brief is reopened with the industrial management
  3. Feb 2026Site visitThe deputy finalist spends an afternoon on the plant with the industrial management
  4. 3 March 2026Deputy director signedOffer letter, resignation straight after, start before summer
  5. 2 April 2026The review that changes the strategyStrictly EfW talent pool exhausted in France: broadening recommended to process thermal industries
  6. 30 Jul 2026Plant director signedBoth EfW plant directorships are filled

02 · The challenge

The difficulty

Why these two rolestook eight months

Running this site means keeping a furnace going around the clock, a control room, an ICPE regime and a twenty-year public service commitment.

  1. An exhausted national talent pool, measured rather than assumed

    In three months of intensive search, 368 site directors and deputies identified in the French energy-from-waste sector, 345 approached directly. Almost the entire market was seen.

  2. “Titled” EfW experience closes the door on the right profiles

    Solid candidates ruled out for not having run an EfW plant in the strict sense, including an engineer with a doctorate who came from a major operator. An incineration furnace, a cement kiln and a heavy chemicals boiler nonetheless fall under the same combustion physics and the same ICPE regime.

  3. Two roles, two markets

    The plant director is headhunted among sitting directors, who only move for a real step up in scope. The deputy, among operations managers waiting for their first management role. Same site, two market maps, two pitches.

  4. A site ramping up

    The third line, inaugurated in September 2025, adds 80,000 tonnes a year. The candidate joins a plant that is ramping up, not in steady-state operation: the brief had to say so, or risk disillusion at three months.

Grapple above the waste pit of an energy-from-waste plant
EfW plant pit and grapple · illustrative photo

03 · The assignment

The two roles

Site managementand their deputy

Two roles on the same site, two different markets : two market maps, two pitches.

  1. Plant director

    IDEX · Villers-Saint-Paul EfW plant (60)

    Filled · 30 July 2026

    The scope

    • A furnace running continuously and a control room
    • The ICPE regime and a twenty-year public service commitment
    • A plant ramping up since the third line

    The profile

    Headhunted among sitting directors, who only move for a real step up in scope. Search broadened, after the April review, to process thermal industries.

    EfW · ICPE · Continuous operation

  2. Deputy operations director

    IDEX · Villers-Saint-Paul EfW plant (60)

    Filled · 3 March 2026

    The scope

    • Running the EfW plant alongside the plant director
    • A plant that has just added 80,000 t a year

    The profile

    Headhunted among operations managers who are waiting for their first management role. The finalist spent an afternoon on the plant before deciding.

    EfW · Operations · ICPE

04 · The search

The data

Almost the entire French market,approached one by one

At the review of 2 April 2026, after three months of intensive search on both roles. These figures are not a sales performance: they are the measure of a market.

  1. 368

    profiles identified

    Mapping of site directors in post in French energy recovery

  2. 345

    approached directly

    1,284 messages and not a single advertisement published, for 60% response rate

  3. 15

    candidates presented

    Qualified on continuous operation, the ICPE regime and availability rate

  4. 2

    management roles hired

    Deputy director in March 2026, plant director in July 2026

What we told the client, in black and whiteThe French talent pool of strictly EfW site directors, incineration and biomass, is exhausted at this level. Our recommendation: broaden to process thermal industries, cement works, heavy chemicals, industrial cogeneration. Same combustion physics, same ICPE regime, same availability requirement. That reasoning is what unlocked the search.

05 · The result

The result

Both directorshipsare in post

Deputy operations director signed on 3 March 2026, plant director signed on 30 July 2026. Onboarding follow-up continues after the start date, with check-ins held with the candidate and then reported back to IDEX.

  • 23

    hires for IDEX, all assignments combined

  • 5

    senior executives

  • 4

    site directors

  • 1

    HSE director

Exhaustive mapping before the first message

A census of the EfW plants, UVED, biomass heating plants and SRF units in France, then of the directors in post at each. It is this work that lets us state, with the numbers in hand, that the talent pool is exhausted.

Fully direct approach, zero job ads

1,284 messages sent to 345 people in post. No job board posting: at this level, the right profiles are not looking, and an advertisement would have exposed the assignment.

Structured follow-up after the signature

Second follow-up at 90 days with the deputy director in August 2026, conducted with him and reported back to IDEX: actual workload, management relationship, friction points.

06 · The method

The Volta Executive method

Four stages,and a brief reopened when the market requires it

A 1-hour scoping session and a scorecard, the mapping of the search ecosystem, a shortlist within 10 days, a hire within 3 weeks. The 3 weeks run from scoping to the chosen candidate with the offer accepted, when the five key success factors are in place. The candidate’s notice period, often three months for a manager in post, comes on top.

  1. Day 1

    A 1-hour scoping session and a scorecard

    One hour with the future manager, not just HR. We come out with the three results expected at twelve months, the real budget including variable pay, and a scorecard ranking each skill: essential, necessary, useful, bonus.

  2. Days 1 to 3

    Map the search ecosystem

    The companies, sites and roles where the profile really exists: competitors, suppliers, customers, neighbouring sectors doing the same job under another name. We know how many people fit the scorecard before writing the first message.

  3. Within 10 days

    A shortlist within 10 days

    Three to five candidates approached directly, met, assessed against the scorecard by an engineer, presented with their motivations and real salary expectations. Not a pile of CVs.

  4. Within 3 weeks

    A hire within 3 weeks by direct search

    Two interview rounds at most, with the direct manager. The package and the counter-offer are prepared before the final interview: the offer goes out within 24 hours and the chosen candidate says yes.

The brief reopened when the market says so

When the search shows that the target does not exist in sufficient numbers, the firm's role is to say so and to propose a reasoned broadening, not to present the same talent pool a third time.

Site visit before the decision

An EfW plant is not sold on a job description: the candidate must see the pit, the control room and the team before saying yes. Visits arranged on the client side and the candidate side.

First confidential conversation

A site directorshipin energy-from-waste?

We know the talent pool because we have counted it. A one-hour conversation is enough to tell whether your role can be filled within the sector, or whether we need to look elsewhere.

Our full track record

Reply within 48 hours · shortlist within 10 days · hire within 3 weeks

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