Being a Business Unit Manager in Canada: a key role with diverse and rewarding assignments

26 June 2023
Corporate

In this interview, discover Alexandre Guerra’s career at MIGSO-PCUBED as a Senior Business Unit Manager in Canada as well as his team’s engagements.

MP: What is your background, and what made you want to become a Business Manager at MP?

Alexandre : I have been a Business Manager for the Montreal hub for almost two years. Before that, I worked as a quality engineer in China just after I graduated as an engineer. I have always wanted to combine the technical knowledge of the engineering field with more personal business skills; this is how I naturally turned to the business manager profession. I worked in France for four years before moving to Canada.

When I discovered MIGSO-PCUBED, and mainly the Montreal hub, I immediately liked their specialization in project management. It was very different from the generalist environment that I had known until then, where I saw several types of careers. Today, I find that being specialized in project management is very interesting and stimulating. It allows me to be an expert in a field and bring real added value to it.

MP: Why did you choose to come to Canada, and why Montreal?

Alexandre: North America, and especially Canada, has always been a place where I dreamed of working because of the quality of life, the pace, the friendliness of the people, the prospects of evolution, and the proximity to nature. In Canada, it is possible to live in a big city like Toronto, while having the opportunity to be in the most complete nature in less than an hour’s drive.

It was this balance between my professional and personal life that prompted me to come to Canada. Montreal is, in my opinion, the balance between a big city and nature. It is a multicultural and cosmopolitan city where people speak both English and French, which is reassuring when embarking on a new professional adventure. Here in Montreal, we are lucky to be able to ski in the winter and sunbathe in the summer while staying in the same city, it’s still incredible!

MP: How was your transition to Montreal?

Alexandre: If I had to choose a word to define my arrival in Montreal, it would be “Magnifique”! I integrated very well into both the city and MIGSO-PCUBED. The company accompanied me both in the administrative procedures and with my move.

MP: With which clients and on what types of projects do you work?

Alexandre: What is exciting about MIGSO-PCUBED is that even though we are specialists in project management, we are able to work on a multitude of different projects. Digital transformation projects, tool migration following an acquisition or company merge, governance implementation projects to help our clients structure the management of their future projects, and much more. Although a large part of our projects are in the aerospace sector, we also have projects in other areas of activity, such as mining, construction, or renewable energy. It’s extremely varied, and that’s what I find interesting.

MP: What do you like most about MP Canada? What about your job?

Alexandre: When I arrived at MIGSO-PCUBED Canada, we were about 80. Today, we are 150. It is a great satisfaction to participate in this evolution, I was trusted: the company gave me strategic roles within the company and it is extremely rewarding. What I like about MP Canada is the relationship of trust that we have built. I am very proud of our team and the efficiency we deploy every day to satisfy our clients and consultants. We are a close-knit team that works together, supports each other and collaborates with kindness!

As a Business Manager, every day is different and you must be able to adapt quickly to different situations. I like the multidisciplinary dimension of my work: I intervene on strategic roles while keeping a personal approach. I never get bored! In short, at MP management is based on trust, offering great prospects for development, both personal and professional, and that’s what I like and what motivates me.

MP: What are your main achievements since your arrival?

Alexandre: My greatest success was feeling fully integrated at MIGSO-PCUBED, quickly understanding the issues, our customers and our expertise. Overall, one of my first professional successes at MP was to recover a large aerospace account and be responsible for managing the largest customer account here in Canada. I am really proud to have recovered this account, and above all to have successfully developed it, reaching today more than 60 consultants.

This success has led to new opportunities, the most notable of which was the creation of a team of Business Managers to supervise, allowing me to evolve as a manager in order to bring other BMs to success. I am proud of their success and happy to see their activities grow. I enjoy supporting and helping my team; it’s a great success for me!

MP focuses on the training and development of its employees, and I am pleased to contribute to this by hosting workshops at seminars or training sessions with new Business Managers for North America.

MP: What does the future look like for your business and your Business Unit?

Alexandre: I would like the Business Managers of my Business Unit (BU) to take on similar responsibilities to mine in order to continue our development in Canada. This will allow us to have an even more established governance model and to offer our consultants new career and development opportunities.

In the long term, the goal is to be able to propose projects and development opportunities beyond Montreal and Toronto.

MP: Finally, do you have an anecdote to tell us?

Alexandre: When I came to Canada, we were still in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and we had to quarantine, so I could not be around anyone. The first time I physically met one of my colleagues, I was… in my pajamas. She was bringing me my computer equipment. You could say I met the team in my pajamas!

MP: Thank you Alexandre for sharing your Quebec experience with us!