Leadership

André Sincennes is CEO of RHEA Group. He has over 30 years’ experience working in executive positions in Europe and Canada, and has played a strategic role developing economic business relationships between Belgium and Canada. In recognition of his significant contribution to Belgium’s global reputation and influence, he was made Commander of the Order of the Crown in November 2022.

During his career in business management, André has overseen multiple company mergers and acquisitions, and fostered relations with government administrations, international agencies and leading organizations across two continents. André’s legal acumen and diplomacy expertise have facilitated innovative partnerships and demonstrated an ability to rally industry by harnessing commitment from its partners.

André became leader of RHEA Group in 2009, providing strategic vision, identifying and exploiting new business opportunities, and fostering impressive sustained growth during a period of global economic instability. RHEA Group is now one of the largest international space engineering and cybersecurity companies in Europe.

André graduated from the University of Ottawa Law Faculty in 1981. In 2012, André was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.

Emmanuel Adant is Deputy Managing Director and Chief Corporate Officer of RHEA Group, having joined the company in 2014. A member of the RHEA Group Board, he leads the full operational support suite of Finance, HR, Legal, IT, Quality and other key back office teams across 10 countries.

Emmanuel is accustomed to leading multinational teams holding budgetary responsibilities of over €100 million. His financial career has covered all areas, including: accounting; forecasting; financial control; cash management; modelling; and auditing. He has more than 20 years’ experience running finance and operations teams, with an emphasis on service excellence and delivery.

Leading by example, he is now developing and upskilling his own team of leaders to ensure continued quality and growth. Under Emmanuel’s direction, the company has achieved ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certifications.

Emmanuel graduated from ICHEC Brussels Management School in 1993 with a Master’s degree in business and economics. He is fluent in French, English and Flemish.

Pascal Rogiest is Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) for RHEA Group. As CCO, he provides direction and manages all of RHEA’s global sales and business development activities, leveraging the expanding service lines and core competences of the company. Pascal joined the company in December 2020 as Chief European Institutions Officer and Managing Director of RHEA System Luxembourg S.A., bringing experience in both space and cybersecurity in order to further develop the commercial and institutional footprint of RHEA, and later took on roles as Chief Strategy Officer and Vice-President Belux.

Pascal spent most of his career at the satellite firm SES, where he held technical, commercial, business and corporate development positions until he became Vice President, Head of Mergers and Acquisitions. He was behind the creation and subsequent development of two subsidiaries at SES, namely SES TechCom and Redu Space Services, and has been involved in various international projects.

He joined LuxTrust, the Luxembourg-based digital trust services provider, in 2015, becoming CEO in March 2016 in order to foster the international, commercial and institutional development of the company, and transform it into a customer-centric organization based on end-to-end digital trust and identity solutions. In 2018, he won the IT Security CEO Award for the Benelux region (CEO Monthly Magazine).

Pascal has a background in electro-mechanical engineering and a PhD in aerospace.

Nicola Mann joined RHEA Group in 2006 as Human Resources Director and then took on the role of Head of Professional Engineering Services. In January 2022, she became Chief Operations Officer and Vice-President for Spain (now Acting Vice-President from March 2023).

As Chief Operations Officer, Nicola leads the performance, growth and profitability of RHEA’s operations, ensuring the successful delivery of the company’s portfolio of services and engaging strong operational teams of specialists who continually excel in their delivery to the clients. Nicola also oversees RHEA’s operations in Spain where RHEA teams provide highly specialized services to major clients including the European Space Agency and EU Agency for the Space Programme.

Prior to joining RHEA, Nicola held various positions at Tyco International, including Human Resources Director for Tyco Flow Control EMEA region and leading the business model design in a global business transformation team. Her career started at Lucas Industries, working on engineering and environmental continuous improvement projects across the UK, Europe and US.

Nicola has a BEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering from Birmingham City University.

Bruno Vermeire is Global Chief Information Security Officer for RHEA Group, responsible for ensuring the application and compliance of RHEA’s information security-related processes across all the countries in which RHEA operates. He works closely with RHEA’s company officers, business managers and cybersecurity and IT teams to safeguard both RHEA and client data, reinforcing our position as a trusted business partner.

Bruno joined RHEA in July 2022 as the latest step in a long and distinguished career in defence and security. Before joining RHEA, Bruno was Head of INFOSEC, the Belgian National Security Authority, for 11 years. During this time, he was Chair of the European Space Programme Security Accreditation Board, working closely with European Union (EU) Member States, the EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Commission (EC). He started his career in the Belgian military, undertaking many activities for the Belgian Ministry of Defence including security assessments and accreditation, forensic enquiries and roles on European and global organizational committees.

Bruno has military qualifications in electronics, telecommunications and IT, and is fluent in Dutch, French, English and German.

Arne Matthyssen joined RHEA Group in December 2011 and now holds the joint roles of Chief Technology and Innovation Officer and Vice-President Benelux.

As Chief Technology and Innovation Officer, Arne is responsible for driving, supporting and aligning RHEA Group’s technology-related strategy, decisions, coordination, awareness, developments, focus and priorities towards fulfilling the company’s short- and long-term business needs and objectives.​ In his role as VP Benelux, Arne focuses on optimizing the full potential of the combined competencies and resident expertise within the Benelux region, ensuring the provision of stellar service delivery and regional growth.

Arne’s career in started 1996 as a Young Graduate Trainee at the European Space Agency’s (ESA) European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC). He then moved into system engineering in a Belgian space company working on projects related to space robotics monitoring and control, before returning to ESTEC to work in ESA’s Concurrent Design Facility. In 2004, Arne created J-CDS BV, which provided concurrent design solutions to space and non-space industries. J-CDS BV became a member company of RHEA Group in 2011.

Arne graduated from Delft University of Engineering with a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering in 1996. He is Member of the Board of Directors of RHEA System S.A.

Karim Azer-Nessim joined RHEA Group in February 2023 as Managing Director of RHEA Group Cybersecurity Division In this role, he is responsible for the organization of RHEA’s Cybersecurity Division, including the security services and solutions portfolio, operations, business development and sales. He provides strategic, financial and operational leadership for the division, which includes experts from across RHEA’s global footprint.

Prior to joining RHEA, Karim was Business Consulting Director and Cyber Security Director at Sopra Steria Group, where he worked for 9 years. There, he led the business consulting activities, governance, risk and compliance consulting services, security solutions, professional services and security managed services to provide a complete end-to-end offering.

Karim has over 20 years’ experience in deploying and managing IT and security projects. He has extensive experience across both the institutional and commercial worlds, having worked with both private sector and public organizations, including the European Union, NATO, defence agencies, police forces and government ministries in Europe and Africa.

Karim has Master’s degrees in Security Information from Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management and in Applied Economics from the Louvain School of Management. He is fluent in French, Dutch, English and Spanish.

General Robert Mazzolin joined RHEA Group as Chief Technology Strategist in October 2018 to establish our cybersecurity portfolio and direction. In his current role as Chief Defence, Security and Technology Strategist, he works with clients to evolve their programmes and capabilities, working with an increasingly diverse and expanding institutional community within the space and cyber disciplines.

General Mazzolin has served in a variety of strategic command and staff roles at all ranks. During his military service, his notable appointments included: responsibility for all Canadian Armed Forces and Department of National Defence Strategic Network; signals intelligence; electronic warfare and cyber operations; strategic cyber policy development; and the engineering and programme management of the Canadian Army C4ISR system. Prior to his retirement from service, he also served at United States Cyber Command as the Vice Director for Strategic Policy, Plans, Force Development and Training – the first foreign flag officer to do so.

Throughout his career, he has chaired and participated in many multinational engineering, security, interoperability and standardization programmes within NATO, AUSCANNZUKUS and related military, government and commercial forums.

General Mazzolin holds a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering, Master of Science with specialization in Electronics and Guided Weapon Systems, Master of Arts in Security and Defence Management and Policy, and a PhD in Engineering Management. He is a licensed Professional Engineer and Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He is an Officer of the Canadian Order of Military Merit, with other awards including the US Legion of Merit, US Meritorious Service Medal, Canadian Chief of Defence Staff Commendation and the Italian Army Chief of General Staff Commendation ‘Encomio Solenne’ in recognition of professionalism and courage for combat actions in Somalia with the ‘Folgore’ Parachute Brigade.

Nicolas Vincent is Senior Vice-President Space Business Development and Sales and Deputy Chief Commercial Officer. In his role, he works closely with the Chief Commercial Officer to ensure constant, optimal operational capacity of the business’s commercial activities. Nicolas is also Vice-President Czech Republic and France, and Managing Director for RHEA Groupe France, RHEA Group’s wholly-owned French subsidiary. Nicolas joined RHEA in July 2020 as Business Unit Manager and Regional Director for France and Czech Republic, with specific responsibility for the key account of the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA).

Nicolas Vincent is a senior manager with extensive experience from over 25 years’ working in the space industry, including positions in programmes such as the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) and Galileo. His roles have involved working closely with the European Commission, the Galileo Joint Undertaking, EUSPA, the French Space Agency (CNES) and the European Space Agency (ESA). In his previous role as Business Director, Nicolas managed a team of more than 60 experts working on projects in navigation and Earth observation.

Through his 25 years in roles at Telespazio France and Thales Alenia Space, and now at RHEA, Nicolas has built strong relationships at institutional level and also in European industry, understanding how to manage partners for the success of the client.

Nicolas has an Engineering degree and a Master’s degree in Space Telecommunications from the Institut Supérieur de l’Aéronautique et de l’Espace in Toulouse, France.

Nicola Mann joined RHEA Group in 2006 as Human Resources Director and then took on the role of Head of Professional Engineering Services. In January 2022, she became Chief Operations Officer and Vice-President for Spain (now Acting Vice-President from March 2023).

As Chief Operations Officer, Nicola leads the performance, growth and profitability of RHEA’s operations, ensuring the successful delivery of the company’s portfolio of services and engaging strong operational teams of specialists who continually excel in their delivery to the clients. Nicola also oversees RHEA’s operations in Spain where RHEA teams provide highly specialized services to major clients including the European Space Agency and EU Agency for the Space Programme.

Prior to joining RHEA, Nicola held various positions at Tyco International, including Human Resources Director for Tyco Flow Control EMEA region and leading the business model design in a global business transformation team. Her career started at Lucas Industries, working on engineering and environmental continuous improvement projects across the UK, Europe and US.

Nicola has a BEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering from Birmingham City University.

Arne Matthyssen joined RHEA Group in December 2011 and now holds the joint roles of Chief Technology and Innovation Officer and Vice-President Benelux.

As Chief Technology and Innovation Officer, Arne is responsible for driving, supporting and aligning RHEA Group’s technology-related strategy, decisions, coordination, awareness, developments, focus and priorities towards fulfilling the company’s short- and long-term business needs and objectives.​ In his role as VP Benelux, Arne focuses on optimizing the full potential of the combined competencies and resident expertise within the Benelux region, ensuring the provision of stellar service delivery and regional growth.

Arne’s career in started 1996 as a Young Graduate Trainee at the European Space Agency’s (ESA) European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC). He then moved into system engineering in a Belgian space company working on projects related to space robotics monitoring and control, before returning to ESTEC to work in ESA’s Concurrent Design Facility. In 2004, Arne created J-CDS BV, which provided concurrent design solutions to space and non-space industries. J-CDS BV became a member company of RHEA Group in 2011.

Arne graduated from Delft University of Engineering with a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering in 1996. He is Member of the Board of Directors of RHEA System S.A.

Jim Cater is Vice-President Germany and UK, and Acting Vice-President Italy, having joined RHEA Group in March 2021 to oversee the delivery of highly complex, secure space systems and services in these countries.

Jim has over 30 years’ experience in the space industry across many disciplines, including software and system engineering management, project management, spacecraft operations, contract management, sales and marketing, and company management. He has a track record of successful delivery of multifaceted systems and services, having managed large programmes involving large geographically dispersed teams, multiple subcontractors and large numbers of applications in a complex system-of-systems environment at companies including CGI and Serco.

Jim’s strong technical background and deep understanding of the management of complex systems within an international environment gives him the ability and confidence to deliver winning solutions to customers.

Jim has a degree in Engineering from the Royal Naval Engineering College in the UK.

Isabelle Roels is Vice-President Marketing and Communications, having joined RHEA Group in September 2019 as Director of Marketing and Communications. She is responsible for developing RHEA’s corporate marketing and communications strategy at a global level and helping to take the company to the next stage in its ambitious growth plan. This includes internal and external communications, press relations, public affairs and activities associated with events and sponsorships – all in multiple languages.

Prior to joining RHEA, Isabelle worked at Samsung Electronics as a Senior Communications Manager, responsible for all Belgian communications activities, including press relations, public affairs and internal communications. Isabelle has also worked in communication roles at MasterCard and Microsoft across Benelux, using that as a foundation for her current global role at RHEA working across all the countries in which RHEA operates in Europe as well as Canada.

Based in Belgium, Isabelle is fluent in English, French, Dutch and German.

Vanessa Lewis is Vice-President, Recruitment, heading up RHEA Group’s busy central Recruitment team. She joined RHEA in November 2013 as a recruitment specialist, taking the lead in managing recruiting activities within the HR department, and has since gone on to manage the Recruitment department, taking on the position of Director of Recruitment and now Vice-President.

In her role, Vanessa is responsible for helping the company meet its ambitious growth targets by leading a geographically dispersed team spread across most of the countries in which RHEA operates. She drives the recruiting strategies across the company for both Europe and Canada, liaising with RHEA’s other Business Services teams and all the country teams, to successfully recruit over 200 experts to RHEA each year.

Vanessa has over 18 years of experience in sales and recruitment functions, with the last 15 years spent working in the aerospace and defence sectors, including space sector recruitment at Modis Europe.

Vanessa studied Economics and is fluent in English, French and Romanian.

Cédric Seynat joined RHEA Group in 2016 as Director, Business Development and is now RHEA Group’s Corporate Strategy Officer, helping to steer the company’s strategic trajectory and bridge the gap between technology and business management. In addition, in January 2022 he became Vice-President Canada, overseeing the company’s operations in the country, which focus on cyber and physical security. He is responsible for planning strategies and leading teams that provide 24/7 managed security services, including one of RHEA’s global security operations centres.

Over the last 20 years, Cédric has lived and worked on three continents and gained all-round experience in science, engineering, programme management, business development, corporate operations and business strategy. He has held positions in the public, commercial and academic sectors, in organizations ranging from start-ups to large multinational institutions.

Cédric holds a Master’s degree in space engineering and a PhD in remote sensing from Cranfield University, UK, and an engineering degree from Ecole Centrale de Lille, France.

Mario Fernandez Pasarin joined RHEA Group in August 2020. As Vice-President Finance, he is responsible for RHEA’s worldwide financial strategies, planning and analysis, legal compliance and ongoing relationships with auditors and investors, and for the management of RHEA’s worldwide financial affairs.

As a member of the Executive Management Team, Mario influences the definition and implementation of RHEA’s strategic direction.

Mario brings a wealth of international financial leadership experience to RHEA. Prior to joining RHEA, he served as Global Head of Finance for the marine, rail and air business units of Ingersoll Rand. He previously spent over 15 years with Hewlett-Packard in various financial leadership positions, culminating in the role of Global Head of Finance Presales for the Enterprise Services Business Unit.

Mario holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration and Management from the Solvay Business School in Brussels, Belgium.

Gregory Fleming joined RHEA Group in February 2021 as Vice-President of Digital Enterprise and Process Excellence.

His role is to develop and drive the digitalization of RHEA Group and its processes through the development and implementation of existing and new business processes that drive greater internal service excellence, cost efficiencies and adherence to contractual compliance and operational standards across the organization.

Gregory brings a wealth of international financial and business leadership experience to RHEA. Prior to joining RHEA, Gregory spent most of his career at the services firm Serco, where he held finance, commercial and operational positions with an emphasis on service excellence and delivery. He brings a wealth of international experience having held positions across various European delivery entities within the Serco group, mainly in Italy, the UK and Germany.

Gregory holds a degree in Business Management & Management Information Systems from the University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.

Peter Dubock is a Strategic Advisor to RHEA Group. He has been associated with RHEA Group since retiring from the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2010. In his support he focusses on ESA and EU programmes such as Galileo and Copernicus.

While at ESA, Peter engineered major parts of the ground computer system for the first Meteosat mission, led a team producing onboard software for the first ESA manned flight mission with Ulf Merbold, and played a major part in the production of spacecraft such as ERS 1, ENVISAT and Aeolus. His final role in his near 40-year career at ESA was as the Agency’s Inspector General for several years.

Since leaving ESA, Peter has acted as Independent Chair for a number of investigations on behalf of ESA, Arianespace, the European GNSS Agency (GSA) and the European Commission. Probably the most notable of these was into the anomalous launch of Soyuz VS09 carrying two Galileo satellites.

Peter holds a BSc and a PhD from the University of Southampton, is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, a Chartered Engineer and a member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology and of the British Computer Society.

Michel Bosco is a member of the Board of RHEA Group. Michel has a long history of involvement with RHEA, both as a Strategic Advisor on industry/university relations, innovation strategies and international developments, and more recently as acting President of RHEA Groupe France SAS.

Michel was formerly a Senior Officer with the European Commission (EC). Under his leadership, the EC designed and launched several international cooperation programmes in the fields of IT, space and security involving governments, industry and research organizations worldwide.

After leaving European Union institutions in 2017, Michel founded an Executive MBA with the IAE Nice Graduate School of Management within the Université Côte d’Azur, with a focus on management in the space, defence and security industries.

Michel holds a PhD in Computer Science from ENSAE (Ecole Nationale Supérieure de l’Aéronautique et de l’Espace) in Toulouse, France, and an MSc in Civil Engineering from ENTPE (Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l’Etat) in Lyon, France.

Marco Lisi is a Strategic Advisor with RHEA Group since January 2020, after retiring from the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2019.

At ESA, Marco worked as Special Advisor in the Navigation Directorate and supported the Executive Director of the European GNSS Agency (GSA) as Chief Technical Advisor. From 2012 to 2014, he was Special Advisor of the European Commission on European space policies.

Marco has worked for more than 35 years in the aerospace, defence and telecommunications sectors, holding managerial positions in R&D, engineering and programmes, both in industry and in institutional organizations. His main areas of expertise are systems engineering, project management, space systems, GNSS, telecommunications, security, operations and integrated logistics support.

Marco holds five international patents, has authored more than 200 technical papers and contributes to professional magazines on management, social and economic topics. He holds a doctorate in engineering and an Executive MBA diploma from the IRI Management School, and is a professor at UNPHU University, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Gerry Deneault is a Strategic Advisor on security for RHEA Inc. He joined RHEA in July 2016 as Director, Security Services, and was promoted to Vice President, Business Development (Canada) in early 2017. Gerry started his consulting company in January 2019, but remains an active and key contributor to RHEA.

Gerry’s previous career was within the Government of Canada as a public servant. He held some of the Canadian Government’s most strategic executive positions in security, including Director of Security at Justice Canada, Director Security Policy at the Treasury Board Secretariat, Head of Security at the Privy Council Office/Prime Minister’s Office, Director General of Canada’s Industrial Security Programme and Director General Operations at the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada.

Gerry has received numerous awards from the Government of Canada including: the Head of the Public Service Award; the Governor General’s Medal for the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada; and the Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) Exceptional Career Achievement Award.

Gerry is a graduate of the Algonquin College Law and Security Administration Program in Ottawa, Canada.