Didier Douziech is graduated from Arts et Métiers, one of the top French engineering schools and he participated to the Advanced Management Programme of INSEAD. He has a 36 years’ work experience, 25 in France, 10 in other countries (Japan, Germany, England and Spain). French is his mother tongue and he uses English, Spanish, German and Japanese professionally. He has extensive experience in most of the key positions in a company: board member, managing director, sales & marketing director, industrial director and data processing manager. He worked at the headquarters of a multinational group, in plants, overseas subsidiaries, middle size and small companies and carried out the start-up of an internet company. He had been employed for 14 years by SAINT-GOBAIN Group and worked for SPIE, IWKA AG, IXBLUE, WESTFALIA AUTOMOTIVE, AEG POWER SOLUTIONS and CREDIT LYONNAIS groups.
With this multidisciplinary and multicultural experience, since 2006 Didier Douziech has operated as Executive Interim Manager and Consultant in industrial and BtoB service companies, as Managing Director, Plant and Industrial Director or Sales & Marketing Director. This field experience is enhanced by ongoing training in the areas of personal development, communication, change management and sustainable development. As a result, Didier Douziech has developed a structured set of skills, methods and tools entitled “Life skills and know-how of 21st century Managers” which he transmits to his employees when on mission as well as widely through conferences and on the web. In 2008, he also founded SKILLS-ALLIANCE a group of Executive Interim Managers. Didier is French, married and has two children, he likes sport and travelling.
Didier started his career in Japan as computer engineer of Credit Lyonnais Bank. He joined Saint-Gobain Group, worldwide leader in material industry, 2 years later. He started as Information System Project Manager in France, then moved to Japan where he set up the technology watching office of Saint-Gobain Group. One year later, he proposed and then implemented successfully a strategy to develop a global automotive glass business with Japanese car makers. After Promotion to Sales & Marketing Manager in charge of Asian customers of Sekurit Saint-Gobain, based in Germany, Didier and his team penetrated the market to supply all the Japanese car plants in Western Europe.
As Didier wanted to later found his own company, he decided to get a more operational position and became manager of a Saint-Gobain plant, manufacturing mirrors, with IKEA as main customer. He turned the plant around in order to maintain profitability despite difficult commercial and social conditions, applying lean manufacturing methodology learned through its numerous contacts with TOYOTA. He founded an internet start-up in the year 2000 and then came back to the industry 2 years later joining the ARO Group, worldwide leader in resistance welding. He successfully turned around its British subsidiary and then became Member of the Board of Directors and Sales & Marketing Director of this Group with a €125M turnover. He supervised the set up of subsidiaries in China and Slovakia and contributed to the best financial result of the ARO Group in the last 23 years in 2005
Finally, in 2006, Didier successfully founded his own consultancy and interim management business. Until now, he has carried out 4 missions as Managing Director, 1 assignment as COO, 2 as Industrial Director, 2 business development achievements and 3 audits of industrial companies. Since the beginning of his interim management activity, on average about 70% of Didier Douziech’s time has been contracted and the majority of his customers are repeat customers.
Download here a letter written by the CEO of WESTFALIA AUTOMOTIVE Group about the assignement of Didier Douziech as Managing Director of his French subsidiary.