International opportunities and high-profile projects

My job is to coordinate water, wastewater and electricity projects for Safege's subsidiary in Casablanca. I coordinate the project, supervise the work of the junior engineers and coordinate the expert input. It's my first experience working abroad. I volunteered for this job after five years at the branch office where I did my placement, and was accepted. I have a degree in Agronomic Engineering and a Mastère in Hydraulics.

Christine F., International Projects Coordinator

Not long after joining Safege, I was sent to work for Disney on the site development and landscaping components of the Paris Disneyland project – an expat already, some might say! After that I worked on the engineering project for the Aguas Argentinas concession in Buenos Aires, a city of 10 million people. You have to go abroad to find projects like that. Four years later I was sent to Jakarta, where I had full responsibility for a team of over 100 people and where the setting, culture and way of working were totally different. And life as an expat is also something of an adventure, like when President Suharto was deposed and we were evacuated to Singapore.
At the moment I'm in charge of a major technical assistance project in Algeria, helping the Ministry of Water Resources with the institutional, operational and organisational aspects of a capacity development project to improve the management of the country's water and wastewater sectors.

You shouldn't opt for an expatriate career without being totally committed to the business. But the benefits are really worthwhile. Each job is different, there's enormous variety. It's a completely new experience every time. The rewards are immeasurable, not to mention the experience of immersing oneself in another culture. And I've also been lucky enough to be able to contribute to all of Safege's landmark projects.

 

Emmanuel de C-T., Major Projects Director