Jérémie Lecha: Successful Transformation!

After traveling the world for Ernst & Young's clients and contributing to France's food sovereignty as the head of the Roullier Group, Jérémie Lecha (Class of 2008 in economics and management) has now turned his passion for sports into a professional reality. He is currently the successful CEO of the FFR - French Rugby Federation.

"I made my educational choices because they opened as many doors as possible each time" says Jérémie. After preparatory classes, he joined the École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay in 2008, where he completed a Bachelor's degree and a Master's degree in economics and management before pursuing a Master's degree in organizational management at the École des Mines de Paris. The diverse disciplines taught at the École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay equipped him with the ability to approach a multitude of subjects, "an essential quality that still serves me well in my current role" he asserts.

From advising around the world 

Although Jérémie's first professional experience, an internship at the French embassy in New Zealand, was personally exceptional, it left him with mixed feelings. "The highly politicized diplomatic environment didn't suit me." He shifted towards the private sector, joining Ernst & Young in 2011. Leveraging his status as an alumnus of the École normale, he entered a program for high potentials, successfully navigating through its stages. "It's a bit like school," he jokes. "When we had good grades, it felt like skipping grades to climb faster. It also allowed me to work on exciting projects." Thus, Jérémie Lecha traveled to various parts of the world—Sydney, Paris, London, Basel—conducting financial audits and mergers and acquisitions consulting for major French and international industrial groups: Google Asia-Pacific, Airbus, Thales... After this seven-and-a-half-year period he deems "extremely enriching" he returned to France, settling in Bretagne.

From sustainable transformation to a converted try 

Jérémie Lecha joined the Roullier Group in 2019 as director of mergers and acquisitions, quickly evolving to the head of administrative and financial direction, and finally becoming the President of the Executive Board in August 2021. At this industrial company mainly producing premium fertilizers for sustainable agriculture, he spearheaded the creation of a dedicated Sustainable Transformation department directly under him. As a sports enthusiast, Jérémie also celebrates the achievement of the European Commission Workplace Active Certification in 2022, placing the Group in the top 10 European companies promoting sports in the workplace.

In early 2024, Jérémie Lecha became the CEO of the French Rugby Federation. "It's a project that comes directly from the heart" he confides. "Firstly, because we have very talented French teams operating in an exceptional and exciting sports context: the Olympics, of course, but also the Women's Rugby World Cup in England, the Under-20 Rugby World Cup, and the Men's Rugby World Cup in Australia." But more importantly, for this team leader, rugby embodies exceptional values of respect, teamwork, loyalty, and social diversity that need to be fostered nationwide. "The FFR has a strong ambition to develop the educational and civic role of rugby by leading numerous projects. We plan to develop a hybrid model combining traditional revenue from marketing and television rights with individual and corporate sponsorship, through a dedicated endowment fund" he details. An objective that brings the CEO back to the roots of his commitment to sports when he coached the women's basketball team at the École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay and presided over the Sports Bureau. "I often quote my president Florian Grill, who says that in rugby, we don't just transform tries, we also transform men." Men? "Women as well, of course, especially since my aunt was the first captain of the French rugby team in 1982!" exclaims Jérémie. To future ENS Paris-Saclay students: the École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay leads to all professions, and sports transcends them.

¹The Roullier Group is an independent family-owned industrial conglomerate focused on human needs, including soil, plant, and animal nutrition, agri-food, and renewable energies. The Group and its subsidiaries are also signatories to the United Nations Global Compact.