Welcome to July’s NAVBLUE Employee Spotlight Feature!
We’ve created these stories with the goal of shining a spotlight on the pivotal role our employees play in the tech and aviation field, their journeys so far, and how NAVBLUE aims to create an innovative and inclusive workforce with their help.
Today we are sharing the story of Lucian-Gabriel Marginean, Product Marketing Specialist at NAVBLUE in Toulouse, France.
Fun Facts
- He is a huge sneakerhead (Collected over 30 pairs of sneakers)
- Geography is his thing, he can name the capital of any country in the world
- He loves roadtrips, his record so far is 3000 Km
Q&A
–Thank you for joining us, Lucian! Can you share a bit about your background?
I was born and raised in Bucharest, Romania and come from a family with a generational history in engineering. Unsurprisingly, I am an engineer myself, having graduated in 2021 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering, specializing in Air Navigation, from the POLITEHNICA University of Bucharest.
Afterwards, I decided to try something outside of my comfort zone and moved to Toulouse, pursuing a Master’s Degree in International Air Transport Operations Management at ENAC. Two years and a diploma later, here I am at NAVBLUE, enjoying my first ever full time job to the maximum
-Can you tell us, in brief, what a Product Marketing Specialist is and what that role entails within NAVBLUE?
As a Product Marketing Specialist, I am part of our new and exciting Regional Marketing Team. My responsibility is the EMEA region and I cover three Value Streams: Fly & Navigate, Supply Aerodata and Manage Risk. It is a really great role, simply because no two days look the same, given the overall number of topics. My main focus is supporting the EMEA Sales Team to qualify new sales opportunities through product presentations or demonstrations, but also to make sure they are up to date with the latest commercial updates of our products, which sometimes involves leading training sessions or creating / updating internal product materials, for example. I am also involved in more strategic actions, such as dedicated regional studies or identifying new leads for our Sales Team.
I believe that working in Marketing within NAVBLUE is an extremely versatile experience, encompassing almost a perfect balance between technical and commercial aspects of the Flight Operations IT domain. Since the Marketing Team maintains close collaboration with our Sales Teams worldwide, as well as Communications, Deal Management and the Product Manager, it can surely be considered a hub of information within the Company. Because of this, as a Team, we definitely have a big part to play in growing our business.
-You arrived in November, do you remember your first day at the office?
How could I ever forget? I remember I was very nervous, but also very excited. Luckily, I was so well-received by my colleagues, such that the nervousness did not even matter in the end. From the start I had the feeling that I was definitely in the right place, and this is a feeling that has stayed with me ever since.
-Is there something that surprised you about the company?
I distinctly remember how pleasantly surprised I was to see so many young people within the Company. Coming directly from the school’s desks, it is not always easy to make that first step within the Industry. It was very refreshing to see that NAVBLUE is willing to take a chance on young graduates and it is a Company Value that deeply resonates with me.
-What is it like to be a newcomer at NAVBLUE?
To me, the perfect onboarding experience. Everyone is extremely helpful and patient, overall doing the best they can to be available for you and help with any question you may have. More than that, I feel like I managed to get a sense of belonging to NAVBLUE really fast, and this would have not been possible without the warm welcome that I got from my colleagues. And I will always be grateful for that.
-If you had to choose a NAVBLUE solution as your favourite, which one would you choose and why?
Might be an unexpected one here, but I will go for Navigation+. Having high quality Navigation Data in your FMS is key in achieving safe and efficient Flight Operations, therefore it’s a no-brainer for me.
–As someone that joined us quite recently… How would you describe the future of NAVBLUE in a word?
Exciting!
