Welcome to February’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 Gino Cariño, Strategy & External Affairs Director at NAVBLUE.
Fun Facts
- He collects Air Jordans (and knows everything about them!)👟🏀
- He is an audiophile🎧📀
- His favourite music is Jazz🎷💗
Q&A
Congratulations on your new role as Strategy & External Affairs Director, Gino! Can you share a bit about your journey within NAVBLUE and what led you to this position?
I joined in 2013, coming from much larger companies (LSY, EDS, AAL, UAE, UAL, COA, and others) but all in the airline industry, to be able to contribute directly to the bottom line as I would have direct engagement with the leadership team at that time. When Airbus decided to acquire what is now NAVBLUE, I have been through four M&A’s at this point in my career and I knew that I had a high chance to be rendered redundant and move on.
Briac Kerihuel, CCO at NAVBVLUE, took the big risk to have me lead Marketing even with no direct Marketing education or experience. My tenure in Marketing, I would assess, has been quite successful, and so I was again given the chance by both Briac and Antonia Helterlin,Head of Strategy Partnerships and Business Development at the company to now contribute to Strategy.
I am hoping that by ~40 years of airline experience would be of great value to NAVBLUE in my new mandate.
The Strategy & External Affairs Director is a new position within NAVBLUE. What does the role entail?
We feel that it is important and imperative to be seen and heard in the airline industry to be successful on our objectives. Ergo, my role, which is a Principal for Strategy, will keep us abreast of any evolving regulations and policies that could impact NAVBLUE, including coordination with internal teams to ensure compliance with government regulations, industry stakeholders, and international associations.
In addition, I aim to monitor strategic business and competitive intelligence in the airline industry that may impact NAVBLUE. Also, I am hoping that my extensive airline experience would contribute positively to the total Strategy objectives of NAVBLUE.
Strategy and External Affairs involves collaboration across different stakeholders, internal and external ones. How do you face the challenge?
As our indomitable leader, Marc Lemeilleur, summarized in one of our internal events – communication is the key and we need to continuously and proactively communicate amongst ourselves and our customers. In order to accelerate our success, I am intent that Strategy will most definitely be more engaged with the rest of our new organization.
Transitioning roles can be a significant career step. What insights have you gained through your recent position change, and how has it impacted your approach to leadership?
Overall, we are in a market where our services have to be sold in a consultative way. Hence, it is important to identify and plan to retain in NAVBLUE the competence and know-how in airline operations and IT. It not only supports our success in our domains but also lends considerable credibility to our customers.
What advice would you give to someone that is thinking about changing roles?
Always assess your possible overall “happiness” in that new role. And this is not only the typical considerations such as title and remuneration, but also how your family may be affected by the new role, how you will fit and enjoy your possible new team members including your new leader, and of course, how you will enjoy the new domains you will be working.
Describe the future of NAVBLUE in a word.
Promising.
Interested in joining NAVBLUE?
