Katayoune Panahi

DIRECTOR GENERAL OF SNCF IMMOBILIER

A general engineer of bridges, water and forests, she began her career in 1996 at the Ministry of Equipment and Transport, first in the central administration and then at the Departmental Directorate of Equipment of Yvelines, from 1998 to 2002.

In 2006, she joined the Ministry of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and Spatial Planning, to work on the organisational transformation of the services resulting in particular from the merger of the ministries in charge of Equipment, Ecology and Energy respectively.

In December 2008, during the financial crisis, she was called to the cabinet of the Minister in charge of the implementation of the economic recovery plan as advisor in charge of defence and security infrastructures and equipment. There, she was in charge of the financing of transport infrastructure operations and the renewal of SNCF and RATP rolling stock as part of the recovery plan.

In 2010, she was appointed Managing Director of the public establishment for the management of the La Défense business district (DEFACTO), newly created to strengthen the attractiveness and international influence of Europe's leading business district. She is helping to structure its fast-growing activity, before managing the merger with the public development establishment (EPADESA), to finalise its decentralisation and build a sustainable economic model, enabling the ambitious transformation of the district to be pursued through the construction of new buildings.

In 2013, Katayoune Panahi was appointed Director General of Services of the Hauts-de-Seine Departmental Council. There she piloted a strategy of territorial attractiveness based on the implementation of structural investment operations (such as the Seine Musicale, the deployment of a very high-speed fibre network, the development of the banks of the Seine, the T2, T6 and T10 tramway projects, the sports facilities to host the 2024 Olympic Games, etc.) and an ambitious policy in favour of young people and access to culture for all.

Since 1 February 2021, Katayoune Panahi has been Director of Real Estate for the SNCF Group, which manages 8.2 million m² of buildings, 20,000 ha of land and 95,000 homes. She is the non-executive chairman of the subsidiaries attached to the property department (ICF Habitat, Société Nationale des Espaces ferroviaires, S2FIT).

Her objective is to manage and enhance the value of this property portfolio by going beyond the environmental criteria set by the regulatory framework.