What is your job at Sopra Steria Benelux?
I started as a Java Developer in Madrid and then had a job as Tester. Once I became more and more interested in the management of people, Sopra Steria Madrid allowed me to lead a small team of Testers and then a full team of Developers and Testers. When I came to Luxembourg, they proposed to join as a Technical Project Manager, combined with the role of a Manager.
At this moment, I am both a Project Manager/Project Manager Coordinator for SIS II and the Agency Industrial Director for Sopra Steria Luxembourg. Because of these 2 roles, my day may start with a plan, but it almost never works out like that. I never know what my day will look like, and this is what makes it interesting.
As a Project Manager you are assigned to a project and you need to follow up on all the activities, communicate with the client, and think about the financial aspect. As Project Manager Coordinator, you also need to support and evaluate a set of Project Managers on the follow up of the project and you are their point of contact for escalations. I mostly work together with Developers, the Testing team, and other transversal teams.
As an Agency Industrial Director, I follow up all the operations in Luxembourg: I support the teams during the set-up of a new project, and with the financial follow-up, and I give them a hand when they need to meet a deadline. Since this is a transversal job, it allows me to have an overview of everything that is happening in Luxembourg, and this is really nice.
What are the most important qualities for a Project Manager and an Agency Industrial Director?
You will face people from different nationalities and personalities who all have different approaches, so it is important to be open and really listen to people. You should try to harmonise processes, no matter where employees come from or what their personality is.
Why do you think other people should join Sopra Steria?
Just working on a project you like, is sometimes not enough. It is also about getting opportunities, and having the possibility to follow trainings. It’s about being recognised and about having fun at your job. If you want all this, then Sopra Steria is the place to be.
Fun fact
If Valentin could switch jobs for 1 day with someone else in the company, he would like to work in recruitment. “Going through tons of CVs, trying to set up interviews and answering questions about the salary, I think that could be interesting. Also, I would like to see what a day looks like for a Sales Manager, facing different clients, and finding out what approach works best.
Culture and atmosphere at Sopra Steria
For me, someone at Sopra Steria should be someone who is openminded and who is looking for professional excellence.
I would say that working at Sopra Steria is challenging, and this is one of the reasons why I came here. You will really have a societal impact with the projects you work on. I also see Sopra Steria Benelux as a small family. Because we are not a company of 10.000 employees, it is possible to get to know everyone in the company, and this is one of the reasons why I stay here. There is an informal atmosphere, so we can also discuss other things than work.
We certainly also get enough autonomy to plan things the way we think it is best and most importantly, to learn from our mistakes. This is important because we can’t grow if we don’t make mistakes, and this is how we reach seniority in our jobs. There are opportunities to grow, and this is definitely one of the reasons why I am here for almost 11 years. I already switched career job profiles and even countries and I was really given the chance to grow professionally. We are really recognised for the efforts we put into our work.