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26 assignments under way

Executive search track record

Executives and managers hired in industry and energy

Executive search in the energy industry: site and plant directors, functional directors and, on confidential mandates, managing directors. Energy recovery, industry, power electronics and BESS, decarbonisation, energy efficiency. 15 hires completed, 26 assignments under way.

  • 41

    Assignments

  • 33

    Executives and managers

  • 5,0/5

    112 Google reviews

Volta Executive · Track recordExecutive search for industry and energy

They trusted us

  • Veolia
  • Suez
  • Dalkia
  • Vinci Energies
  • Siemens Gamesa
  • IDEX
  • Nidec
  • Coriance

Flagship placements

Our key accounts, role by role

Energy-from-waste

Volta is a deeply committed partner to Idex. A partner that takes care, from the outset, to fully understand the client's needs.
Yann VincentDirector of Energy Production Units
See the client account
Power electronicsUnder wayBESS R&D and quality managersUnder wayQuality director · C-suiteCompletedProduct development R&D managerCompletedGrid-forming control managerSee the caseIndustryCompletedProcess engineers & techniciansSee the casePower electronicsCompletedEV charging operations & sales directorSee the caseEnergy efficiencyCompletedSenior energy efficiency engineerSee the caseDecarbonisationEnergy transition directorExecutive committee international energy groupSee the case

Confidential executive search

The mandates that are never published, detailed under NDA

Some of our leadership hires remain confidential and appear on no page. Those comparable to yours are presented in a meeting, under a non-disclosure agreement.

  • 5and more

    Confidential executive search mandates

  • 150 to €200k

    Annual package

  • International

    Industrial groups

Executive searchManaging directorsIndustry, international groups
Executive searchOperations directorsTransformation and innovation programmes
Executive searchSite and plant directorsIndustry and the energy industry

Our five fields of expertise

The sectors we hire for, the executives we approach

Our specialty

Energy-from-waste

Our specialty. From site director to shift leader, on operating sites as on new builds.

  • Site director
  • Plant director
  • Deputy director
  • Operations manager
  • Maintenance manager
  • Production manager
Expertise page

5 completed12 under way

Executives and management committeesEfW site directors placedCompletedExecutives and management committeesSRF site directorCompletedExecutives and management committeesEnergy production plant directorUnder wayExecutives and management committeesEnergy Production Site DirectorUnder way

Energy-from-waste specialist recruiter

From shift leader to site director

Nobody runs an energy-from-waste plant without knowing how it is operated. We hire at every step of operations, which is how we know the job of the people we place at the top.

  1. Executives and management committees

    Site director, plant director, deputy director

    The director and deputy director of the Villers-Saint-Paul energy-from-waste plant, the director of Brittany's first SRF site
  2. Managers

    Operations, maintenance, production and QHSE managers

    An energy-from-waste technical team hired in 2 months for a plant opening
  3. Engineers and experts

    Process, combustion and flue gas treatment engineers

    The technical right hand of a classified site's director, assignment under way
  4. Shift leaders and technicians

    Shift leaders, electromechanical and maintenance technicians

    The permanent shift leaders of a rural biomass plant, a partner for more than a year
Shift leader in front of the screen wall of a control room
Control room: where tomorrow's site directors are made. Illustration.

All our assignments

41 assignments, completed and under way

Logo: named clientPadlock: confidential client, name given only to shortlisted candidates

Executives and management committees

14
CompletedConfidential

Executives and management committees · Decarbonisation

Energy transition director

Confidential clientFrance

CompletedConfidential

CompletedIDEX

Executives and management committees · Energy-from-waste

EfW site directors placed

IDEXVillers-Saint-Paul, Oise (60)

CompletedIDEX

368Profiles identified345Approached
CompletedIDEX

Executives and management committees · Energy-from-waste

SRF site director

IDEXBrest, Finistère (29)

CompletedIDEX

70 M€Investment2027Start-up
CompletedConfidential

Executives and management committees · Power electronics

Sales director, France

Confidential clientPower electronics industrial group

CompletedConfidential

Under wayNIDEC

Executives and management committees · Power electronics

BESS R&D and quality managers

NIDECRoche-la-Molière, Loire (42)

Under wayNIDEC

100%Direct approach
Under wayNIDEC Conversion

Executives and management committees · Power electronics

Quality director · C-suite

NIDEC ConversionLa Fouillouse, Loire (42)

Under wayNIDEC Conversion

3Team managed100%Direct approach

Managers

19
CompletedIDEX

Managers · Energy-from-waste

Energy-from-waste technical team

IDEXMons-en-Barœul, Hauts-de-France

CompletedIDEX

2 moisTotal lead time48hActivation
CompletedNIDEC Conversion

Managers · Power electronics

Product development R&D manager

NIDEC ConversionRoche-la-Molière, Loire (42)

CompletedNIDEC Conversion

5DSP team100%Direct approach
CompletedNIDEC Conversion

Managers · Power electronics

Grid-forming control manager

NIDEC ConversionRoche-la-Molière, Loire (42)

CompletedNIDEC Conversion

3+Team of experts100%Direct approach
CompletedCap'bornes

Managers · Power electronics

EV charging operations & sales director

Cap'bornesFrance

CompletedCap'bornes

100%Success
CompletedIDEX Energies

Managers · Energy efficiency

National HSE manager

IDEX EnergiesBoulogne-Billancourt (92) · 3 days remote

CompletedIDEX Energies

~100k€Total package11 000Sites covered
Under wayConfidential

Managers · Energy-from-waste

Thermal plant operations manager

Confidential clientBelgium

Under wayConfidential

60-75 k€Salary

Engineers, experts and field staff

8
CompletedELAURIS Group

Engineers and experts · Industry

Process engineers & technicians

Groupe ELAURISLoudéac, Brittany

CompletedELAURIS Group

100%Success rate3-8 semAverage time
CompletedAlphaCEE

Engineers and experts · Energy efficiency

Senior energy efficiency engineer

AlphaCEELyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

CompletedAlphaCEE

70-90k€Salary range100%Direct approach
CompletedConfidential

Engineers and experts · Power electronics

Analogue electronics engineer

Confidential clientElectronics design office

CompletedConfidential

Under wayConfidential

Engineers and experts · Energy-from-waste

Operations Process Engineer

Confidential clientAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes

Under wayConfidential

45-60 k€Salary
CompletedIDEX PBE

Shift leaders and technicians · Energy-from-waste

Biomass shift leaders

IDEX PBENesle, Somme (Hauts-de-France)

CompletedIDEX PBE

+1 anPartnership100%Retention
CompletedConfidential

Shift leaders and technicians · Energy-from-waste

Line team leader

Confidential clientWood pellet production

CompletedConfidential

Your leadership role

A director or manager to hire, in one of these five fields?

Thirty minutes to scope the role, then I start the search. Free, no commitment.

The Volta Executive method

Three recent hires, day by day

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

  1. 01Day 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.

    Deliverable: Scorecard approved by the manager

  2. 02Days 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.

    Deliverable: A quantified talent map

  3. 03Within 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.

    Deliverable: 3 to 5 reasoned profiles

  4. 04Within 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.

    Deliverable: Offer accepted, start date set

What makes a hire succeed, and what makes it fail

Each success factor has an exact opposite. When a hire goes off track, it is almost always enough to find which of the five was let slip.

  • Success

    An answer within 48 hours at most

    The client answers on each candidate presented within 48 hours; the firm gets back to each candidate within 24 hours. The rule is set at scoping, not along the way.

    Failures

    Slowness

    Ten days without news between two interviews: the employed candidate concludes they are not a priority, and accepts elsewhere. The very best profiles stay available for about ten days.

  • Success

    Exclusivity given to a single firm

    One firm fully committed to the role, one message to the market, one salary announced. That is the condition for the 3-week timeline.

    Failures

    Several competing firms

    Three or four firms on the same role: three half-efforts, the same candidate called four times with four different salaries, and an employer brand that pays the price.

  • Success

    A 1-hour scoping session and a scorecard

    One hour is enough when it is well run: what is at stake, expected results, skills ranked by priority. The scorecard separates the essential from the desirable.

    Failures

    The five-legged sheep

    A job description that piles up everything nice to have describes a candidate who does not exist. The search goes round for months after an unfindable profile.

  • Success

    Talking directly to the future manager

    The firm talks to the direct manager from the scoping stage, and the candidate meets them in the first round. They know what the role must deliver in twelve months.

    Failures

    No dialogue with the direct manager

    A brief relayed by a go-between, a mismatch discovered at the third interview, and an assignment back to square one.

  • Success

    A defined search ecosystem

    The list of companies and roles where the profile exists, agreed with the client before the first approach. Direct search starts on day three.

    Failures

    Job ads without search

    An ad posted while waiting for applications. For a management role or a skills-shortage job, the people able to do it are employed and do not read ads.

Hired by direct search: three recent assignments

Figures taken from our applicant tracking system. No individual salary published.

Polder Guyot Énergies × IDEX · Brest

Plant director, SRF cogeneration plant in Brest

A new €70M plant, due to start in 2027, in an area where this profession is rare: the search is nationwide.

candidate presented
D+1
candidate presented
client interviews
3
client interviews
offer accepted
D+25
offer accepted
  • D0: assignment received, candidate approached and called back that evening
  • D+1: presented to the operations manager
  • D+8 to D+15: three interviews, up to Guyot Énergies' management
  • D+25: offer made and accepted the same day

Hired: François Wawczyniak, then director of a biomass and SRF plant in Finistère

The search ecosystem existed before the assignment: more than 400 energy site directors mapped over six months. That is what makes a 24-hour shortlist possible.

Read the full case →

IDEX · head office, Boulogne-Billancourt

Health and safety manager, national scope

A cross-functional role over high-risk industrial sites: an operator's field credibility and the ability to run a national policy.

candidate identified
D+5
candidate identified
presented to the manager
D+8
presented to the manager
offer accepted
D+34
offer accepted
  • 201 profiles on file, including 88 inbound applications: the hire came from direct search
  • D+5: approached by email, replied the same day
  • D+14 and D+32: two client interviews, in midsummer
  • D+34: offer accepted

Hired: The deputy head of health and safety France at an industrial packaging group

Shortlist delivered within 10 days. The extra two weeks were lost between the two interview rounds: that is why the 48-hour rule is now set at scoping.

Read the full case →

NIDEC · BESS storage, Loire

R&D product development manager, BESS batteries

A rare R&D manager: power electronics, V-cycle, certification, and a team to lead alongside the group.

candidate approached
D+1
candidate approached
assessed by an engineer
D+5
assessed by an engineer
between offer and signature
1 day
between offer and signature
  • D+1: approached, R&D manager at a major electrical engineering group
  • D+5: technical assessment interview with Florian
  • Shortlist of five profiles presented to the client
  • Offer made and signed the same day, in August

The search found the right profile in 24 hours. The rest took fourteen weeks: interviews spread over the summer and a budget to realign with the market. Two points the scoping hour now settles up front.

Read the full case →

The hiring process in detail, step by step →

Teaching & mentoring

Engineering schools

Arts et Métiers Paris

Arts et Métiers Paris

Energy transition programme

Regular sessions with students on the energy transition programme, on what the market really looks like and where the openings are.

Read the full case
ISTP × Mines Saint-Étienne
ISTP × Mines Saint-Étienne

ISTP × Mines Saint-Étienne

All engineering programmes

Energy engineeringEmbedded electronic systemsIndustrial engineeringNuclear engineering

Mentoring across every engineering programme: naming your strengths, reading the market, and going after your own openings.

Read the full case

Talks & keynotes

Sharing what the field teaches

Opening keynote8th HR Trends conferenceCasablanca · May 2026

"Your talent is leaving and you don't know why"

What actually drives hiring and retention in 2026

A 40-slide keynote given to 200+ executives and HR directors. Seven chapters: the diagnosis, hiring in 2026, why they come, why they leave, the Gen Z break, keeping them, and the search firms.

200+
Attendees
40
Slides
7
Chapters
01The diagnosis: four uncomfortable numbers
02Hiring in 2026: AI and process
03Why they come (four drivers)
04Why they leave (five causes)
05The Gen Z break
06Keeping them, and not blowing it
07Search firms
See the details
Invite me to speak

Our client base

The organisations we work with

Large groups

We work with structured, multi-site or multi-business groups facing industrial continuity, plant reliability and energy transition challenges.

References

IDEXNyrstar

Innovative mid-caps

We work with growing mid-caps, usually on high-value industrial or energy solutions, that need to build out technical and project teams.

References

ManergyELAURIS Group

Industrial SMEs

We work with demanding industrial SMEs, where every hire counts: replacing an expert, building internal skills, securing know-how.

References

GEFFELECSEGI2ASBAI

Start-ups

We support fast-growing start-ups in energy and the energy transition, on the strategic hires that accelerate them.

References

AlphaCEECap'Bornes

Your hiring project

A strategic hire in industry or energy?

Executives, managers, expert engineers: direct approach on the profiles conventional channels never surface.