Pauline I Sustainability Project Manager, Kering Beauté

After completing a dual bachelor's degree in Political Science and MIASHS between SciencesPo and Paris I University, I went on to study for a Master's in International Management and Sustainability.

My dual degree program between Sciences Po and Paris I University’s bachelor's degree in MIASHS was marked by numerous social movements, from the Yellow Vests to climate marches.

Already sensitive to environmental issues that punctuated my childhood (clean-up campaigns, protest songs in choir, reforestation initiatives, etc.), during my studies, social movements were the catalyst: individual lifestyle changes would not be enough. A global transition and a re-evaluation of our economic model are necessary, both ecologically and socially, because ecological transition cannot come at the expense of social justice.

My bachelor's degree was a period of experimentation, during which I had the opportunity to discover many subjects of study, dabble in research, and get involved with associations. For my master's degree, I wanted to combine all these learnings and my convictions in a professional path, more specifically oriented towards the private sector, and try to put my professional life at the service of the fight for ecological change.

To these considerations must be added the triggering event of COVID: having not been able to go abroad and benefit from the richness of academic exchanges, my Master just had to be internationally oriented. So, it was without hesitation that I chose the Master’s in International Management and Sustainability.

I am a Sustainability Project Manager in the Operations team at Kering Beauté, an entity that develops niche perfumes.
My scope of work covers both perfume development (formula and packaging) and the surrounding logistics and production chain, upstream and downstream, until the end of our products' life cycle.

After assessing our environmental impact (at both the product and company levels), I am now in charge of establishing our decarbonization roadmap. The challenges are complex: while the focus is on our carbon footprint, my team is taking advantage of this strategy to give equal consideration to issues related to biodiversity, water, and human rights throughout the value chain.

My position is operational and cross-functional, requiring me to work with numerous suppliers and internally with all teams (marketing, logistics, purchasing, R&D, etc.).
Three watchwords: rigor, curiosity, and pedagogy. If our decisions are well explained and consistent with the company's strategy, they will win everyone's support.

On the one hand, numerous soft skills: fluency in English, oral fluency (absolutely necessary during meetings, trade shows, and meetings with suppliers), a capacity for work and adaptation recognized by my peers, as well as the ability to take a step back and put into perspective issues requiring a complex response. Also significant is a broad range of scientific and cultural references.

On the other hand, there are hard skills, particularly in economics (including the circular economy, the functional economy, and models of sobriety), finance, strategy, report analysis, life cycle analysis, etc. These skills are essential for understanding how the company works as a whole and knowing how to position yourself when presenting or defending a project.

Having quickly focused my career plans on the operational side of things, I wanted to round out my knowledge by doing a Master's degree in environmental geography at Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne University during my gap year. This gave me an extra set of technical and field skills, especially in biodiversity and managing multi-stakeholder, multi-sector projects.