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Catherine Ragobert

French, born in 1956. 
ESSEC business school, graduating class of 1978. 
Director of Budget Management & Control 
Personal details: loves decorating and has taken advantage of her numerous experiences abroad to this end. 

"I began my career at Renault in 1981 and have been lucky enough to have had a variety of fascinating experiences all within the financial management and control branch. 

I started working at Renault VI (Commercial Vehicles) as Internal Auditor. My job as Controller in the Financial Department of the division's Sales & Marketing Department went on to include increasingly wider geographical areas. I then took on three consecutive expat missions, as Controller of increasingly larger Renault VI subsidiaries, first in the United Kingdom, then in Spain and in the United States. 

On my return to France in 2000, after nearly ten years abroad, I left Renault VI for the Renault group and took up a position as Controller of the Purchasing Department, which I held up through September 2003. 

I currently report to the Corporate Controller. I manage a team of 27 people working in four principal domains. The first is the budget and group financial results summary - centralization, forecasting and analysis. The second is the analysis of financial results by vehicle model and by country. The third is a project to promote changes in reporting, especially abroad and with Nissan. And lastly, we also act as cross-functional coordinators for financial control in the different operational departments.

My career development has been straightforward and serene. Changes have always come about naturally. I never made demands but rather have always worked with enthusiasm and put my trust in the company. One of my first managers once said to me, "You just work and I'll take care of the rest." In fact, I have always felt I was given all I deserved."

The company is organized in such a way that it attracts high-potential candidates. You just have to let yourself be taken in by this energy by being both very devoted to your job and open to the exterior. Contact networks are fundamentally important because it's through them that opportunities are created." 

Job history:

1978 - 1981: Auditor, Ernst & Young
1981 - 1984: Internal Auditor, Renault VI
1984 - 1987: Controller at Renault VI's Sales & Marketing Department and then for the commercial / industrial sales subsidiaries of Renault VI in the UK, Spain and then the US. 
1987 - 1991: Controller for Renault VI's Corporate Sales Department 
1991 - 1993: Controller for Renault VI's UK subsidiary 
1993 - 1996: Chief Financial Officer of Renault VI's Spanish subsidiary
1996 - 2000: Chief Financial Officer of Mack Trucks, Renault VI's US subsidiary
2000 - 2003: Leaves Renault VI for Renault S.A., becomes Controller in the Purchasing Department
Since September 2003: Director of Budget Management & Control in the DCG (Financial Control Department)  

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