23 hires for IDEX, from plant director to shift leader

• EfWFilledProjet Circle · Mons-en-Barœul (59)Opening a plant, and staffing it in two monthsNew energy-from-waste unit: project team activated within 48 hours, 15 permanent hires filled in 2 months, from site director to shift operators. All 15 hires still in post after 18 months.15Permanent roles filled2 monthsoverall timeline100 %in post at 18 monthsRead the full case
• EfWFilledVillers-Saint-Paul EfW plant · Oise (60)The site's two leadership roles, on an exhausted talent poolPlant director and deputy operations director of the EfW plant operated for the SMDO: 258,000 t/year, four district heating networks supplied. Two signed offers between March and July 2026.368profiles identified345approached directly2management roles filledRead the full case
• BiomassFilledKogeban · Picardie Biomasse Énergie · Nesle (80)Five shift leaders, and a partnership that lastsA town of 3,000 inhabitants, no dense industrial jobs area, a trade that is taught in no school. Five shift leaders hired over more than a year, as exclusive partner.5Permanent roles filled1 year+of partnership24/7continuity maintainedRead the full case
• SRFFilledPolder Guyot Énergies × IDEX · Brest (29)The director of Brittany's first SRF cogeneration plantA site that still exists only on plans: €70m invested, including €14.5m from ADEME, 40,000 t of SRF a year, opening targeted for 2027. The director is headhunted one to two years before commissioning.€70minvestment105 GWhtarget output2027openingRead the full case
• District heatingFilledIDEX Energies · pôle IEB · Boulogne-Billancourt (92)A health and safety manager across 11,000 sitesNational scope: services sector, industrial sites, prison services, interventions at private homes. Zero Accident goal, direct and confidential approach.11 000sites coveredNationalscope1permanent manager contract filledRead the full case

1. 368

   profiles identified

   Mapping of site leaders in post across French energy recovery.

2. 345

   approached directly

   1,284 messages sent, zero job ads published.

3. 15

   candidates presented

   Qualified on continuous operation, the ICPE regime, availability rate.

4. 2

   management roles hired

   Deputy director in March 2026, plant director in July 2026.

The finding delivered to the clientFor an EfW plant director role, the strictly EfW talent pool no longer exists in France. Yet an incineration furnace, a cement kiln and a heavy chemicals boiler rely on the same combustion physics and the same ICPE regime: when the target does not exist in volume, our job is to say so and propose a reasoned widening.

The Villers-Saint-Paul assignment in detail

1. 01

   The mapping before the first message

   A census of France's EfW plants, biomass heating plants and SRF units, then of the leaders in post at each. This is the work that lets us tell IDEX, figures in hand, that the strictly EfW talent pool is exhausted.

2. 02

   Fully direct approach, zero job ads

   At this level of role, the right profiles are not looking. A job ad would have yielded nothing and would have exposed the assignment. 1,284 messages for the Villers-Saint-Paul site alone, all personalised.

3. 03

   The brief reopened when the market says so

   At Villers-Saint-Paul, a candidate approached for the deputy role proved to be cut out for the top job: the brief was reopened with the industrial management.

4. 04

   Follow-up does not stop at the signature

   Onboarding check-ins held with the hire and then reported back to IDEX: 90 days on leadership assignments, up to a year for shift leaders in training.