International Sales Director · B2B & B2G
JulienFouriot
I build and lead sales organisations that sell far away, over long cycles, at scale.
Nearly 30 years of international selling: public tenders, sovereign identity contracts, telecom operator partnerships, multi-country distribution agreements. Four continents, including twelve years posted abroad.
- Current role
- Head of Global Sales – Identity, Surys (IN Groupe), until November 2026
- Based in
- Issy-les-Moulineaux, Greater Paris — home office
- Mobility
- Up to 60% international travel, no relocation
- Languages
- French: native · English: fluent, professional (12 years in South Africa)
- Education
- ESSCA (four-year Grande École) · MSc Marketing, NEOMA (ESC Rouen)
- Contract
- Open to portage salarial or an Employer of Record for companies without a French entity
SURYSIN GROUPETCL COMMUNICATIONALCATEL MOBILECROSSCALLGL EVENTSMTNAIRTELORANGEVODAFONET-MOBILESFRSURYSIN GROUPETCL COMMUNICATIONALCATEL MOBILECROSSCALLGL EVENTSMTNAIRTELORANGEVODAFONET-MOBILESFR
What that looks like in numbers
Real scopes, held over time. Each figure reflects direct responsibility, not a share of someone else's result.
€65M
Revenue under management in 2024 for the Identity business of Surys.
+25% on 2023
×4
African revenue at TCL: $50M in 2010, $200M in 2016.
Six years
40
People in the pan-African organisation I built and led, across multiple countries.
Multicultural leadership
+72%
Turnaround in 24 months of an SME acquired with personal funds, later sold to the GL Events group.
Exit at the height of Covid
+56%
Northern Europe growth at TCL: $80M to $125M, with profitability up 300% in three years.
Team of 12
20+
African markets with secured listings, across operator and open-market channels.
MTN, Airtel, Orange
Track record
Telecoms, sovereign identity, event equipment rental. Three worlds with nothing obvious in common: the stakes, the lines of influence, the decision cycles and the length of the sales cycle differ radically. That is where adaptability is actually built.
Aug 2022 → Nov 2026
Bussy-Saint-Georges, France
Head of Global Sales – Identity
Surys (IN Groupe — Imprimerie Nationale)
- Commercial leadership of the Identity business within the Secure Components Division: highly secure identity document components — optical, electronic and digital. Government customers, long decision cycles.
- Direct management of an eight-person sales team covering Asia, the Americas, Europe and MEA.
- Reorganised and localised the worldwide sales force.
- Member of the Identity business executive committee.
- Revenue under management: €65M in 2024, up 25% on 2023.
- Involved in strategic bids with significant technical and financial complexity.
Jun 2018 → Aug 2022
Cape Town, South Africa
Africa Sales Director
Crosscall
- Launched Crosscall — French manufacturer of MIL-STD-810 rugged terminals built for security forces and professionals operating in hostile environments — across five African markets: South Africa, Senegal, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Kenya.
- Selected and managed distributors; secured listings with national telecom operators.
- Built the business from zero to €1M in recurring annual revenue.
- Held in parallel with the general management of SRENTAL: two businesses run simultaneously over four years.
Jan 2018 → Aug 2022
Cape Town, South Africa
General Manager — entrepreneur
SRENTAL
- General management held in parallel with the Africa Sales Director role at Crosscall, throughout the period.
- Acquired and turned around the company using personal funds.
- New organisation, rebranding and end-to-end digital transformation.
- Created a new product range and set up direct sourcing from China.
- +72% revenue over 24 months (2018-2019), growth halted by the Covid crisis.
- Business sold to the GL Events group at the height of the Covid crisis — an exit executed in a closed market.
Jun 2010 → Dec 2017
Johannesburg, South Africa
Africa Sales Director
TCL Communication
- Grew African revenue from $50M (2010) to $200M (2016) — a fourfold increase in six years.
- Built and led a pan-African organisation of 40 people across multiple countries.
- Negotiated and managed agreements with major operators (MTN, Airtel, Orange) and regional distributors.
- Secured listings in more than 20 markets, across both operator and open-market channels.
- Member of the TCL Mobile executive committee.
Jan 2007 → Jun 2010
Nanterre, France
Northern Europe Sales Director
TCL Communication (Alcatel Mobile)
- Relaunched the business in France, Benelux and the United Kingdom.
- Built a 12-person European commercial team.
- Grew revenue from $80M to $125M (+56%), with profitability up 300% over three years.
- Key operator accounts: Vodafone, T-Mobile, and pan-European distributors.
- Member of the European executive committee.
Jan 2004 → Jan 2007
Nanterre, France
UK & Ireland Sales Director
Alcatel Mobile Phones, then TCL Communication
- Relaunched Alcatel mobile phone products in the UK and Ireland.
- Built and managed a local sales and marketing team from scratch.
- Business transferred to the TCL & Alcatel Mobile Phones joint venture, operational from August 2004.
1997 → Jan 2004
London, then Paris
Europe Area Manager, then SFR Key Account Manager
Alcatel Mobile Phones
- Developed sales across the European region, first from London, then from Paris.
- Owned the SFR key account: product listings, annual negotiation and operator commercial plan.
How I run a sales organisation
Four principles that have not changed from one industry to the next, or from one continent to the next.
01
A dedicated strategy for every major deal
Understanding customer needs — directly, and through partners and sales teams — is the critical success factor. On that basis I build a competitive and profitable offer with the teams, looking for innovation or key differentiators, technical, financial or contractual. Each offer goes out once reviewed and approved by top management, and I follow it through to closing and implementation. I contribute to pricing strategy, I defend margin, and I carry the budget in front of the executive team.
02
Hunter and farmer
Keep and strengthen the loyalty of existing customers, concentrate resources on high-potential accounts — already active or still to be developed — and keep opening new partners to widen the base. All three at once: a portfolio that is not renewed erodes; a portfolio with no core funds nothing.
03
An owner's mindset
I bought an SME with my own money, turned it around by 72% in 24 months, and sold it to the GL Events group at the height of the Covid crisis. Since then I have run every business as though the capital and the cash flow were mine: go after the large contracts, with no compromise on margin or on receivables.
04
Supportive and demanding leadership
I set up local structures, for greater cost efficiency and a closer commercial presence. I visit the regions and the customers in key countries regularly: you cannot lead from a distance without feeling what is happening on the ground. And I rally teams around the company's project, not only around the number. Up to 40 people in Africa, 12 in Europe, eight today across four regions.
Applied AI in the sales function
The tools are changing fast, and I intend to hold myself to the standards I ask of my teams. So I started by applying the method to myself: running my own search for a role as a sales pipeline.
A qualified base, not a list
245 named contacts identified across 121 executive search firms, structured in a single database: role, sector specialism, valid contact channel, relationship status, history of exchanges.
Firms positioned on defence, aerospace and identity are tagged and handled first — exactly the way you segment a high-potential customer portfolio.
Personalisation at scale
Every approach is prepared from the firm's actual specialism and its partner's background, not from a mail merge. AI does the preparation and the first draft; I review, decide and sign. Nothing goes out without my approval.
Disciplined follow-up
Status, date sent, follow-up, reply: the same reporting I require from a sales force. What is not tracked is not managed — true for eight sales managers across four regions, equally true for a job search.
This website
Designed, written and deployed with an AI agent working directly on my source files — CV, cover letters, contact database. Published on Cloudflare Pages.
Not a style exercise: proof that a sales director can industrialise a tool himself, without an agency and without waiting for a budget.
What I am looking for
Worth stating plainly — it saves everyone time.
Role
International Sales Director / Head of International Sales. Worldwide or major regional scope, with team and budget responsibility.
Sectors
- Drones and autonomous systems
- Defence and security
- Sovereign identity
- Technology-intensive industries
Terms
- Paris-based, home office
- Up to 60% travel
- No relocation
- Portage salarial or EOR possible
Availability
In post at Surys (IN Groupe) until November 2026. Conversations can start now, in full confidence.
Education
-
Training in AI applied to the sales function
In progress — in-person, Paris
-
Master in Marketing Studies & Decisions
NEOMA Business School (ESC Rouen) — 1996-1997
-
Diplôme de l'ESSCA
ESSCA School of Management, Angers — four-year Grande École programme — 1992-1996
Core competencies
- International sales leadership and team build-out
- Complex B2B / B2G negotiation and public tendering
- Market entry and distribution channel management
- Portfolio strategy: retention, high-potential accounts, new partners
- P&L ownership and commercial performance management
- Multicultural and remote leadership, up to 40 people
- Pricing strategy, margin discipline and cash-flow management