JÉrémy Rosen's INTERVIEW

JÉRÉMY ROSEN

« The Expert Committee is made up of BU's most experienced members » : interview with Jérémy Rosen, Smile Group's Technical manager for ECS experts

August 21st 2023, by Rayene Imane Chikhi

Rayene: Could you introduce yourself?

Jérémy: Hello, I'm Jérémy Rosen. I joined Openwide in 2012 (and therefore Smile in 2015) and I've been in charge of experts for Smile's BU dedicated to embedded and connected objects (ECS) since then. I've also had the role of CTO and CoP-Leader of the embedded part since this year.

Rayene: What is the ECS expert committee?

Jérémy: We have around twenty people on this expert committee. They are the most experienced people in the BU, and we are collectively responsible for the smooth running of everything technical at ECS.

This responsibility covers a wide range of roles:

• managing skills and matching them to our customers' needs through the training we provide (42 sessions this year),

• responsibility for the technical quality of our recruits via the technical test, which is always given and corrected directly by an expert,

• writing technical costings for pre-sales. We break them down into batches and calculate the corresponding effort. Our EMs add the management workload, and our sales staff then convert it all into a costed offer,

• we carry out the most technically complex assignments, in particular customer surveys and audits,

• we participate in the BU's various projects, both by setting up the software architecture and by intervening in the event of technical difficulties,

• we supervise trainees, capitalize on the various projects' results and implement best practices and tools for the BU,

• finally, we organize and guarantee Smile's participation in the various Open Source projects that are vital to our business.

Rayene: What about employees on assignment? 

Jérémy: We have set up a regular follow-up system that enables us to react quickly if a colleague encounters a technical difficulty. This follow-up is particularly useful to help our colleagues who are away from Smile.

All ECS employees, whether trainees, collaborators or experts, are contacted approximately every two months by an expert to discuss their activity and its progress. For staff on assignment at our customers, this is done by videoconference, but for on-site staff we often meet at the coffee machine.

The meeting is informal, but it gives everyone a regular opportunity to discuss their technical problems away from the customer and with a highly experienced person. The 450-plus visits we make each year have enabled us to raise a number of alerts (most of them technical, but we can also identify other, less technical issues such as customer interaction, etc.).  These visits enable us to maintain contact with all BU staff, and to be highly responsive in the event of difficulties. They are particularly appreciated, and contribute fully to the Smile spirit.