Experience & Impact
From major transportation systems to national safety-critical operations, my career has combined technical complexity, organisational leadership and direct accountability for operational and financial performance.
The examples below illustrate the responsibilities I have held, the decisions I have made and the operational improvements and longer-term outcomes I have worked to deliver.
Responsibility at scale
Geneva Area Control Centre
Approximately 130 people, with direct operational and budgetary responsibility within the Geneva ACC scope. Activities represented around 30% of company revenue, with responsibility for staffing, resources and continuous service performance. The role connected daily service delivery with workforce planning and the longer-term development of operational capability.
Interim Head of En-Route Operations · 2023
Held alongside the Geneva role, with distinct national responsibilities and reporting to the COO. The scope covered two control centres, approximately 250 people, a CHF 70 million operating budget and around 1.3 million annual flight movements. These activities represented roughly 60% of company revenue.
Strategic relationship with DSNA
Executive-level responsibility for a cross-border air navigation partnership, involving delegated services of approximately CHF 40 million annually and operational, technical, contractual and executive interfaces.
Improving capacity without compromising safety
Capacity increased by up to 15% in selected critical sectors, within established safety and acceptable workload limits, without a corresponding increase in operational staffing for those sectors. This strengthened the ability to accommodate rising demand and supported the economic sustainability of the operation.
Critical air traffic control sectors faced rising demand and capacity constraints. Earlier technical and operational developments had created an opportunity to revise sector capacities, but the necessary changes were competing with already overloaded technical portfolios.
I identified a relatively limited technical modification with significant operational value, defended its priority and secured room for it within constrained technical programmes.
I then coordinated preparation through the relevant experts: operational analysis, requirements, technical readiness, verification and validation, training, and early engagement with the regulator to prepare the required approval evidence.
Separately, I worked to improve tactical capacity delivery through more consistent traffic forecasting and supervisor practices, and more disciplined resource deployment and planning.
Holding the line while rebuilding capacity
Persistent staffing shortages in a 24/7 safety-critical operation put pressure on service delivery, planning flexibility, employees’ expectations and future growth. Rising traffic demand made temporary compromises insufficient as a long-term response.
I maintained essential operational coverage, including when this required unpopular constraints, explaining the trade-offs, applying decisions consistently and reassessing them as conditions evolved.
In parallel, I personally helped develop new recruitment channels, represented the air traffic control profession at aviation events in France, mobilised operational ambassadors and specialists, and worked to improve candidate assessment and selection.
I also drove more structured recruitment of experienced international controllers, stronger trainee preparation and support, better coaching availability, clearer training expectations and more objective monitoring of progression. Alongside these actions, I challenged resource deployment assumptions and encouraged direct, constructive feedback across teams.
The challenge was not simply a shortage of interested candidates. I questioned how recruitment needs and target profiles were defined, which audiences and channels were being reached, and whether selection and coaching expectations reflected the capabilities the operation actually needed.
By realigning these elements and mobilising the relevant teams, Geneva filled an initial air traffic control training cohort with ten candidates assessed as suitable within a few months — a longstanding challenge for the unit. Training outcomes also improved during my tenure.
The objective was not merely to fill vacancies, but to create a more coherent recruitment and training pipeline, connecting operational requirements, people's development and longer-term organisational performance.
Challenging investment assumptions before commitment
On a major operational infrastructure programme, a proposed long-term investment carried substantial operational and safety implications. However, the future-state operational requirements and the needs of affected stakeholders had not yet been established robustly enough to support operational endorsement.
As the accountable operational leader, I withheld operational endorsement pending further review of the requirements, proposed design and underlying assumptions.
I brought the relevant operational and technical perspectives into a structured reassessment and required stronger evidence before validation. The objective was to ensure that a consequential long-term commitment rested on explicit requirements, cross-functional expertise and a credible operational decision process.
Aligning interests across organisational boundaries
Swiss air traffic operations depended on close coordination with neighbouring European control centres and on complex cross-border service relationships.
I worked with operational counterparts in Switzerland and neighbouring countries on interdependent service matters. I also held strategic responsibility for the relationship with France’s air navigation service provider, DSNA, covering delegated services worth approximately CHF 40 million annually.
The role required aligning service expectations, technical considerations, contractual responsibilities and executive priorities across organisations whose interests were not always identical.
Its significance was the ability to build constructive governance and cooperation around shared operational outcomes.
Systems thinking. Operational outcomes.
Across engineering and operations, I have worked to connect strategic and operational objectives with verifiable system performance: clear requirements, traceability to system architecture, early verification planning, and explicit consideration of safety, availability, reliability and risk.
At Bombardier and skyguide, this meant challenging unclear requirements, anticipating validation needs and promoting better-informed technical and investment decisions. The focus was on the operational evidence needed to support consequential commitments.
Professional progression
Egis Rail · 2010–2014
Railway infrastructure and systems engineering on major transportation programmes. I worked across public-sector clients, engineering disciplines, technical suppliers, safety, verification, validation and commissioning—learning to deliver through complex and demanding interfaces.
Bombardier Transportation · 2014–2017
Technical responsibilities in railway signalling, train protection and ETCS-related systems broadened my experience of industrial delivery, technical assurance, verification and integration. The work connected engineering requirements with safety-critical systems and operational constraints.
skyguide · 2017–2025
Progression from air traffic operations into senior leadership of continuous, safety-critical services, with substantial people, operational and financial responsibility.
Interested in how this experience could translate into value for your organisation?
Get in touch →