JULIEN RICHARD's interview

JULIEN RICHARD

« I see myself as passionate about everything I do » : interview with Julien Richard, Group's Chief Financial Officer

June 30th, 2023 by Rayene Imane Chikhi

Rayene: Julien, can you introduce yourself? 

Julien: I'm 43 and the father of a 7-year-old boy. I see myself as passionate about everything I do and for whom the value of work is fundamental. I live in Meudon, love sport and the good things in life!

Rayene: Can you tell us a little about your career path?

Julien: I've been working in financial management for international groups for around 15 years, and for the last 10 years in the payment and software (SAAS) sector. I began my career in financial auditing.

Rayene: What are your main missions at Smile?

Julien: Smile has expanded rapidly in recent years, both through strong endogenous growth and exogenous acquisitions of companies whose integration we have had to manage. This development will continue over the next few years. My main mission will be to position the Finance function as a growth driver, playing a key role in the transformation through its cross-functional contributions, so that Smile retains its competitive edge over its rivals, and regains a momentum in line with market trends. 

I also hope to be able to offer all employees who work with the Finance Department an optimum level of service, enabling them to focus 100% on "Business First".

Rayene: What are the challenges of your job?

Julien: The challenges are many and varied: performance management, steering financial planning and forecasting, cash management, optimizing business synergies between entities, pricing policy in an inflationary context... All these issues revolve around a single anchor point: increasing the capital and value of Smile Group.