How to Apply to Latécoère

12 min read Last updated April 20, 2026 23 open positions
Blake Crosley
Blake Crosley Researched using publicly available information, hiring data, and ATS analysis.

Key Takeaways

  • Latecoere is a Tier-1 aerospace supplier with deep heritage, dating to 1917 and to the founding of Aeropostale, and a current scale of roughly 6,000 employees and 650 million euros in revenue.
  • Two divisions (Aerostructures and Interconnection Systems) on flagship Airbus and Boeing programs (A320 family, A350, B787, B777, B777X) create a wide range of engineering, manufacturing, and program career paths.
  • Searchlight Capital took the company private in 2024 and Thierry Mootz became CEO the same year. Expect a recruiting culture that combines French formality with private-equity-grade operational rigor.
  • Apply through the SuccessFactors-powered career portal at careers.latecoere.aero. The platform is verified by header inspection (performancemanager5.successfactors.eu and successfactors.eu in the content security policy).
  • Tailor your CV to French aerospace conventions when applying to Toulouse and Liffre-Cormier, and to local norms for international sites in the Czech Republic, Mexico, Brazil, Tunisia, and Bulgaria.
  • Use precise aerospace vocabulary. Name aircraft programs, ATA chapters where relevant, CAD and PLM platforms, certifications such as AS9100 and EN9100, and your role in the value stream.
  • Expect multi-round interviews with HR, hiring manager, peers, and senior leadership. Technical depth is tested seriously and behavioral questions are open-ended in the French style.
  • Some interconnection and defense-adjacent roles require eligibility for French or NATO security clearance, which in practice means EU citizenship or long-term residency and a clean background.
  • Operational metrics matter. Show evidence of cost, lead-time, quality, and working capital impact rather than activity descriptions alone.

About Latécoère

Latecoere SA is a Tier-1 aerospace supplier headquartered in Toulouse, France, with origins that reach back to the very birth of European commercial aviation. Founded in 1917 by Pierre-Georges Latecoere, the company holds a place in aviation history that few of its competitors can match. Latecoere's founder did not just build airplane parts; he created Compagnie Generale Aeropostale, the legendary mail-carrying airline that pioneered routes across the Atlantic and South America and that employed Antoine de Saint-Exupery as a pilot. That lineage is not marketing copy on a careers page. It is part of how the company describes itself, how recruiters frame the mission, and how French and international candidates evaluate the brand against competitors like Daher, Figeac Aero, and Spirit AeroSystems. Today Latecoere employs roughly 6,000 people across a global industrial footprint that includes France (Toulouse headquarters and the Liffre-Cormier facility in Brittany), the Czech Republic, Mexico, Brazil, Tunisia, and Bulgaria, generating revenue in the neighborhood of 650 million euros annually. The business is organized into two complementary divisions. The Aerostructures division designs and manufactures door systems, fuselage sections, and structural assemblies for some of the most produced commercial aircraft in service, including the Airbus A320 family, the Airbus A350, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and the Boeing 777. The Interconnection Systems division produces the wiring harnesses, cable assemblies, and electrical interconnection products that move signals and power through Airbus and Boeing aircraft as well as several defense and helicopter programs. The combination is unusual. Most Tier-1 suppliers specialize in either structures or systems, and the dual-division setup means Latecoere can offer career paths that span mechanical structural engineering, composite manufacturing, electrical harness design, production engineering, and program management within the same company. Ownership and governance changed materially in 2024. After years of pressure on its balance sheet from the COVID-era collapse in commercial aerospace demand, Latecoere was taken private by Searchlight Capital Partners through a tender offer that ultimately resulted in delisting from Euronext Paris. Thierry Mootz became Chief Executive Officer in 2024 and now leads the company through a period defined by the Airbus A320 family production ramp, persistent delays on the Boeing 777X program, ongoing Tier-1 consolidation across the supply chain, and a strategic focus on industrial performance, working capital discipline, and selective investment under a private equity sponsor. For candidates, the practical implication of Searchlight ownership is that financial reporting is no longer public, that strategic decisions can be made faster and with less quarterly noise, and that the long-term thesis is operational improvement rather than buy-and-hold growth at any cost. Latecoere is therefore a company with deep aerospace heritage, real engineering depth on flagship Airbus and Boeing programs, a multi-continent industrial network, and a private equity owner that expects measurable progress on cash generation and margin recovery. It is a serious place to build an aerospace career, and applicants should expect a recruiting process that reflects both the formality of the French aerospace sector and the operational rigor of a PE-backed industrial company.

Application Process

  1. 1
    Start at the official Latecoere careers portal at careers

    Start at the official Latecoere careers portal at careers.latecoere.aero. The URL on the corporate site (latecoere.aero) links directly to this SuccessFactors-powered career site, which is the only authoritative channel for live openings. Avoid third-party aggregators when applying because they can be out of date or post duplicate listings; use them for discovery only and then go to careers.latecoere.aero to submit.

  2. 2
    Switch the portal language deliberately

    Switch the portal language deliberately. The default landing page often opens in French, but you can toggle to English. For roles based in Toulouse, Liffre-Cormier, or other French sites, applying in French is strongly preferred even if the job description is published in English. For international plants in the Czech Republic, Mexico, Brazil, Tunisia, or Bulgaria, English is generally acceptable and frequently expected, with local language fluency listed as a separate requirement.

  3. 3
    Create your candidate account with a personal email address you check daily

    Create your candidate account with a personal email address you check daily. SuccessFactors will email status updates, interview invitations, and assessment links to that address, and notifications occasionally land in spam folders, so add the @successfactors.eu and @latecoere.com domains to your safe sender list before you apply.

  4. 4
    Use the search filters thoughtfully

    Use the search filters thoughtfully. Latecoere posts roles by job family (engineering, production, supply chain, quality, finance, HR, IT, sales, program management), by site (Toulouse, Liffre-Cormier, Prague, Hermosillo, Sao Jose dos Campos, Tunis, Plovdiv), and by contract type (CDI permanent, CDD fixed-term, alternance apprenticeship, stage internship). If you are open to multiple sites, search by job family rather than by location so you do not miss postings that match your skills.

  5. 5
    Tailor each application

    Tailor each application. SuccessFactors lets candidates upload a single CV per application and answer custom screening questions. Treat the screening questions as part of the application, not as paperwork. Recruiters use them to filter against hard requirements such as security clearance eligibility, language proficiency, willingness to travel, and specific software or process experience.

  6. 6
    Upload a CV and a short motivation letter

    Upload a CV and a short motivation letter. For French-language applications, a one-page lettre de motivation is still expected and is read carefully by recruiters and hiring managers. For English-language applications a concise cover letter is welcomed but rarely mandatory unless the job posting requests one explicitly.

  7. 7
    Expect an acknowledgment email within minutes and a substantive recruiter respon

    Expect an acknowledgment email within minutes and a substantive recruiter response within two to four weeks for engineering and program roles. Production, alternance, and internship pipelines often move faster, especially during the spring apprenticeship season when French sites are filling cohorts for September starts.

  8. 8
    If you are invited to a first interview, you will typically meet the recruiter o

    If you are invited to a first interview, you will typically meet the recruiter or HR business partner first, followed by the hiring manager, then by one or two technical or peer interviews. For senior, defense-adjacent, or program management roles, expect at least one additional interview with a department head or program director.

  9. 9
    Background checks and security screening apply to a subset of roles

    Background checks and security screening apply to a subset of roles. Some interconnection and defense-related programs require eligibility for French or NATO security clearance, which in practice means EU citizenship or long-term residency, a clean criminal record, and a willingness to undergo a habilitation process that can take several months and runs in parallel with onboarding.

  10. 10
    Offers are typically made in writing through SuccessFactors and are followed by

    Offers are typically made in writing through SuccessFactors and are followed by a formal contract document. French offers will specify CDI or CDD status, conventional collective agreement coverage (typically the Convention Collective de la Metallurgie), classification level, gross annual salary, target bonus, profit sharing arrangements, and benefits. International offers follow local norms but generally include similarly structured base, variable, and benefits components.

Resume Tips for Latécoère

recommended

Quantify aerospace impact, not just activities

Quantify aerospace impact, not just activities. Recruiters and hiring managers at Latecoere read hundreds of CVs per opening and scan for measurable contribution. Replace vague phrasing such as participated in A320 door program with concrete claims such as led structural redesign of A320 forward passenger door hinge bracket, reducing weight by 12 percent and securing certification on the first stress dossier submission.

recommended

Use the right vocabulary

Use the right vocabulary. Latecoere is a French aerospace company and its hiring teams expect industry-standard terms. Use AS9100 rather than aerospace quality system, EN9100 for European audits, FAI for first article inspection, NCR for nonconformance report, RBOM and EBOM for engineering and manufacturing bills of materials, MRP for material requirements planning, and program names exactly as Airbus and Boeing publish them (A320neo, A321XLR, A350-1000, B787-9, B777X). Generic phrasing signals that you have worked adjacent to aerospace rather than inside it.

recommended

Lead with the program and the role on the program

Lead with the program and the role on the program. For aerospace candidates, the first two lines of every job entry should answer two questions: what aircraft program were you on and what part of the value stream did you own. For example, A350 fuselage stress engineer at a Tier-1 supplier carries more information per word than senior structural engineer.

recommended

List your technical stack precisely

List your technical stack precisely. For structural and mechanical engineering roles, name your CAD platform (CATIA V5, CATIA 3DEXPERIENCE, NX, Creo), your FEA tools (Nastran, Abaqus, HyperWorks, Patran), your PLM environment (3DEXPERIENCE, Teamcenter, ENOVIA), and any composite analysis tools (HyperSizer, ESAComp). For interconnection systems and electrical roles, name your harness design platform (CHS, Capital, VeSys), your wire and connector standards (IPC/WHMA-A-620, EN 4708, ASNE), and any test and instrumentation experience.

recommended

Show certifications and clearances

Show certifications and clearances. Add EN9100 lead auditor, Six Sigma green or black belt, project management credentials such as PMP or Prince2, language certifications, and any active or eligible security clearance status. Even ineligible status (for example, eligible to apply for Confidentiel Defense) is useful information for the recruiter.

recommended

French CV norms differ from Anglo norms

French CV norms differ from Anglo norms. For French sites, a two-page CV is standard, a small headshot photo is common although optional and increasingly skipped, date of birth is sometimes still included although it is no longer recommended, and the etat civil header should include city of residence and contact information without a full home address. For international sites the modern Anglo CV format without a photo is fine.

recommended

Highlight multi-site and international experience

Highlight multi-site and international experience. Latecoere is a global industrial network and managers value engineers and program staff who can collaborate across Toulouse, Prague, Hermosillo, Sao Jose dos Campos, Tunis, and Plovdiv. Mention any prior experience working across time zones, language barriers, or industrial cultures.

recommended

Demonstrate cost, lead-time, and quality consciousness

Demonstrate cost, lead-time, and quality consciousness. Under Searchlight ownership the company is focused on operational performance. CVs that show evidence of reducing cost per shipset, shortening lead times, improving first-pass yield, closing FAIs faster, or driving down nonconformance count will resonate with hiring managers more than CVs that emphasize design novelty alone.

recommended

Tailor for alternance and internship pathways if you are a student

Tailor for alternance and internship pathways if you are a student. French candidates pursuing apprenticeship contracts should foreground school name, specialization, year of study, the rhythm of the alternance (for example three weeks in company, one week at school), and any prior industrial exposure such as PFE, stage ouvrier, or summer jobs in manufacturing.

recommended

Run your CV through a careful proofread

Run your CV through a careful proofread. French recruiters notice spelling, accentuation, and grammatical errors quickly, and an avoidable mistake can suggest a lack of attention to detail in a sector where attention to detail is a non-negotiable value.

ATS System: SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting (Career Site Builder)

Latecoere uses SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting, hosted on the European data center (performancemanager5.successfactors.eu), with a Career Site Builder front end at careers.latecoere.aero. Verification was confirmed by inspecting the site headers and content security policy, which explicitly allows successfactors.eu, sapsf.eu, and rmkcdn.successfactors.com domains. SuccessFactors is one of the most widely used enterprise recruiting platforms in European aerospace and defense and is the standard at many of Latecoere's customers and competitors. The candidate experience includes account creation, profile data entry, CV parsing, custom screening questionnaires, and status tracking through a candidate dashboard. SuccessFactors parses uploaded CVs into structured fields, so a clean machine-readable layout will result in a more accurate parsed profile than a heavily designed graphical CV.

  • Submit a single-column, text-first CV in PDF format. SuccessFactors parsing handles standard PDF layouts well but struggles with multi-column designs, text inside images, and decorative graphics. A clean, accessible layout is also better for downstream review by hiring managers using the recruiter dashboard.
  • Use standard section headings (Experience or Experience professionnelle, Education or Formation, Skills or Competences, Languages or Langues, Certifications). The parser maps these headings to candidate profile fields and gets confused by creative section names.
  • Make sure the first page of your CV contains the keywords that will be matched against the job posting, including job titles, aircraft programs, ATA chapters where relevant, technical software, certifications, and language proficiencies. SuccessFactors candidate search and saved searches are keyword-driven.
  • Complete every required field on the application form, even if you have already uploaded a CV that contains the same information. Recruiters often filter on structured fields rather than CV text.
  • Use the same email address across multiple applications so that your candidate profile is consolidated. Creating multiple accounts with different email addresses fragments your application history and can look disorganized when a recruiter searches for you.
  • Save the job posting URL or job requisition ID as soon as you apply. SuccessFactors postings are sometimes withdrawn after the requisition closes, and having the job ID will help you reference the role accurately during interviews.
  • Set up job alerts inside your candidate account. SuccessFactors will email you when new requisitions matching your saved search criteria are published, which is the fastest way to be notified of new openings without scraping the careers site daily.

Interview Culture

Interviews at Latecoere reflect three influences that candidates should prepare for in combination.

First, the company is fundamentally French in its corporate culture, and French formality applies even when the conversation is in English. Expect interviewers to use vous rather than tu in French, to introduce themselves and their function precisely, to follow a structured agenda, and to expect candidates to be punctual and professionally dressed (business or business casual). Casual or overly familiar behavior reads as lack of seriousness rather than as confidence. Second, the company is an aerospace Tier-1 supplier on safety-critical programs, and the technical bar for engineering, manufacturing, and quality roles is genuinely high. Interviewers will probe technical depth in detail. For structural engineering candidates this can include stress and fatigue analysis methods, certification basis, joint design, composite layup logic, and damage tolerance reasoning. For interconnection systems candidates this can include harness design rules, EMI considerations, connector selection criteria, manufacturing-for-assembly tradeoffs, and IPC/WHMA-A-620 workmanship standards. For production, supply chain, and quality roles, expect questions about lean manufacturing, takt time analysis, value stream mapping, supplier qualification, AS9100 audit experience, FAI and PPAP execution, and root cause analysis methods such as 8D and Ishikawa. Third, the company is now a private equity portfolio company, and interview panels will increasingly probe for operational and commercial maturity. Be ready for questions about how you have measured your impact, how you have balanced cost, schedule, and quality tradeoffs, how you have managed underperforming suppliers or programs, and how you have responded to pressure on margins or working capital. The typical interview pattern is a recruiter screen of thirty to forty-five minutes covering motivation, salary expectations, mobility, and basic role fit, followed by a hiring manager interview of sixty to ninety minutes covering technical and behavioral content, followed by one or two peer or technical interviews depending on level, and finally a senior leadership interview for management or program lead roles. Behavioral questions follow a STAR style structure but tend to be more open-ended in the French style. Rather than asking you to recite a single example, an interviewer may ask you to describe a difficult program situation in your own words and will follow up to understand your reasoning. Salary discussions in France typically focus on gross annual salary including the conventional thirteenth month where applicable, target variable bonus, profit sharing (participation et interessement), restaurant tickets or canteen access, transport allowance, and health and pension benefits. International offers follow local conventions. Final offers can take two to four weeks to be issued after the last interview, particularly if security clearance eligibility is being verified or if the requisition requires sign-off from a department head and HR.

What Latécoère Looks For

  • Aerospace program experience that maps directly to Latecoere's portfolio. Direct exposure to Airbus narrowbody (A220, A320 family), Airbus widebody (A330, A350), Boeing widebody (B777, B777X, B787), or to interconnection programs across these aircraft is the most credible signal.
  • Tier-1 supplier mindset. Engineers and program managers who understand how a Tier-1 supplier interfaces with an OEM through statements of work, build-to-print versus build-to-spec arrangements, configuration management, change orders, and concession processes will integrate quickly.
  • Operational discipline. Under Searchlight ownership the company is focused on cost, lead time, and cash. Candidates who can show measurable improvement in unit cost, on-time delivery, scrap reduction, working capital, or supplier performance carry an advantage.
  • Bilingual capability. French is the working language at Toulouse and Liffre-Cormier, and a working level of English is required for engineering and program work that interfaces with Boeing, with non-French sites, and with global customers. For international sites, local language plus working English is the baseline.
  • Cross-functional collaboration. The dual-division structure (aerostructures and interconnection systems) and the multi-continent industrial network mean that engineers, program managers, and operations staff routinely work across functions, sites, and time zones. Candidates who can show evidence of effective cross-functional work are favored over deep specialists who prefer to work alone.
  • Long-term thinking and stability. Aerospace programs run for decades and Tier-1 supplier relationships are sticky. Candidates who present a coherent career narrative and who can articulate why Latecoere fits their long-term goals are taken more seriously than candidates who present a rapid sequence of short tenures.
  • Mobility, where relevant. Many roles benefit from periodic travel to customer sites, sister plants, or supplier facilities. Indicating willingness to travel domestically or internationally where the role requires it is helpful, and willingness to relocate within the Latecoere network can open additional opportunities.

Frequently Asked Questions

What ATS does Latecoere use to manage applications?
Latecoere uses SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting, hosted on the European SuccessFactors data center, with a Career Site Builder front end at careers.latecoere.aero. This was verified by inspecting the live careers portal headers and content security policy, both of which reference performancemanager5.successfactors.eu, successfactors.eu, and rmkcdn.successfactors.com. SuccessFactors is one of the most widely used recruiting platforms in European aerospace and defense and is also the standard at several of Latecoere's customers and competitors.
What is the official URL for Latecoere's career site?
The official career site is careers.latecoere.aero, linked from the careers section of the corporate site at latecoere.aero. The portal supports French and English language toggles and lists roles across France, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Brazil, Tunisia, and Bulgaria. Avoid applying through third-party aggregators because postings can be out of date or duplicated; use them only for discovery.
Does Latecoere hire international candidates or only French citizens?
Latecoere hires both French and international candidates and operates a global industrial network across six countries beyond France. For most commercial engineering, production, supply chain, and program roles there is no nationality requirement. However, certain interconnection and defense-adjacent roles require eligibility for French or NATO security clearance (habilitation), which in practice means EU citizenship or long-term residency, a clean criminal record, and willingness to undergo a screening process. For roles based outside France, local labor law and work authorization rules apply.
What language should I use to apply?
For roles based in Toulouse or Liffre-Cormier, applying in French is strongly preferred even when the job description is published in English. Recruiters and hiring managers at French sites read CVs in French daily and respond well to a clean French CV with a one-page lettre de motivation. For roles in the Czech Republic, Mexico, Brazil, Tunisia, or Bulgaria, English is generally acceptable, with local language often listed as a separate requirement in the job posting.
What aircraft programs does Latecoere work on?
Latecoere works on several of the most produced and highest-profile commercial aircraft programs in service. The Aerostructures division supplies door systems, fuselage parts, and structural assemblies for the Airbus A320 family, the Airbus A350, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and the Boeing 777, including the upcoming Boeing 777X. The Interconnection Systems division supplies wiring harnesses, cable assemblies, and electrical interconnection products for Airbus and Boeing aircraft as well as helicopter and defense programs. Program experience on any of these aircraft is highly relevant when applying.
How long does the recruiting process typically take?
For engineering and program roles, candidates can expect a substantive recruiter response within two to four weeks of applying, followed by a sequence of three to four interview rounds (recruiter, hiring manager, technical or peer panel, and senior leadership for management or program lead roles). The full cycle from application to offer typically takes six to ten weeks for a complete process. Production, alternance, and internship pipelines often move faster, particularly during the spring apprenticeship cycle when French sites are filling cohorts for September starts.
What does it mean that Searchlight Capital owns Latecoere?
Searchlight Capital Partners is a private equity firm that took Latecoere private in 2024 through a tender offer that resulted in delisting from Euronext Paris. For candidates the practical implications are that detailed financial reporting is no longer publicly available, that strategic decisions can be made with less quarterly noise, and that the company is operating under a multi-year value creation thesis focused on industrial performance, working capital discipline, and selective investment. Hiring managers will increasingly value candidates who can show measurable operational impact (cost, lead-time, quality, cash) in addition to technical depth.
Does Latecoere offer apprenticeships and internships?
Yes. Latecoere is an active recruiter of alternants (apprenticeship contracts) and stagiaires (interns) at its French sites, with cohorts hired most years across engineering, supply chain, quality, manufacturing, IT, finance, and HR. Search the careers portal using the contract type filter for alternance or stage. The most active recruiting season runs from late winter through spring for September starts, although apprenticeship contracts can also begin at other times of year depending on the school calendar.
What technical software should I list on my CV?
List the platforms that you have used in production rather than tools you only know in theory. For structural and mechanical engineering, name your CAD environment (CATIA V5, CATIA 3DEXPERIENCE, NX, Creo), your FEA tools (Nastran, Abaqus, HyperWorks, Patran), your PLM environment (3DEXPERIENCE, Teamcenter, ENOVIA), and any composite analysis tools (HyperSizer, ESAComp). For interconnection systems and electrical engineering, name your harness design platform (CHS, Capital, VeSys), your wire and connector standards experience (IPC/WHMA-A-620, EN 4708), and any test and instrumentation tools. For manufacturing and supply chain roles, name your ERP and MES (SAP S/4HANA, SAP ECC, Oracle), your MRP experience, and any continuous improvement methods such as Lean, Six Sigma, or Theory of Constraints.
What benefits and compensation should I expect?
French offers typically include a gross annual base salary, a target variable bonus, French statutory profit sharing arrangements (participation et interessement) where applicable, restaurant tickets or canteen access, transport allowance, complementary health insurance (mutuelle), and pension contributions. Many French aerospace contracts fall under the Convention Collective de la Metallurgie, which sets classification levels and minimum standards. International offers follow local norms in each country. Total compensation depends on classification, experience, and site. Discuss specifics with the recruiter during the screening call rather than relying on third-party salary aggregators.

Open Positions

Latécoère currently has 23 open positions.

Check Your Resume Before Applying → View 23 open positions at Latécoère

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Sources

  1. Latecoere SA - Official Corporate Site —
  2. Latecoere Careers Portal (SAP SuccessFactors) —
  3. Searchlight Capital Partners - Latecoere Take-Private Transaction (2024) —
  4. Airbus A320 Family Production Ramp Updates —
  5. Boeing 777X Program Status —
  6. SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting - Product Documentation —
  7. Convention Collective Nationale de la Metallurgie —
  8. AS9100 / EN9100 Aerospace Quality Management Standard —
  9. IPC/WHMA-A-620 Requirements and Acceptance for Cable and Wire Harness Assemblies —
  10. Latecoere Heritage and the Aeropostale Legacy —