Executive Master Grande École

The Executive Master Grande École is aimed at established professionals with at least five years of experience who want to take on more strategic responsibilities without interrupting their professional activity. Business owners, executives, managers, entrepreneurs or consultants, whether they are aiming for career progression or preparing a career change, will find a programme there that prepares them for managerial and strategic roles.

Why choose the Executive Master Grande École?

The programme prepares executives, managers and business leaders to manage wider responsibilities. You deepen your strategic vision, your leadership and your transformation management in a complex environment, with immediately applicable skills in your company.

After several years in the field, you have acquired much of your know-how on the job, over the course of your roles and projects. The programme gives it a framework: the academic input helps you to structure your knowledge and gain perspective, while exchanges between peers lead you to measure your practice against that of other professionals.

You come away with an overall view of the company. Strategy, finance, marketing, team management, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, energy transition: the modules cover the main functions of an organisation and the transformations it is going through, so that you understand the trade-offs made by each department before making a decision. And because you remain in your job, what you work on in class is put to the test in your day-to-day professional life, throughout the programme.

A Bac+5-level degree, backed by an accredited school

The Executive Master Grande École leads to the Grade de Master, recognised in France and internationally, and awards a level 7 certification listed on the RNCP (France's National Register of Professional Certifications). It is offered by Excelia Business School, which holds the quadruple accreditation EQUIS, AACSB, AMBA and EFMD Master: Excelia Business School's accreditations give the details.

For an experienced professional, this degree puts a recognised qualification on skills that have often been practised for years. It remains accessible with a Bac+2 when the validation of professional achievements (VAP) recognises your experience in management or project management, and your pathway can then take you up to Bac+5 level.

A programme designed for working professionals

The teaching alternates between in-person and remote learning: each month, 3 days of classes on the Tours campus or on the La Rochelle campus, followed by 1 day remotely. Tours puts you at the heart of a dynamic cultural and economic heritage, La Rochelle facing the ocean, in an open city geared towards innovation. In this way, you follow the programme without interrupting your professional activity.

You learn from lecturer-researchers and more than 650 experts from the professional world, in practical scenarios that test academic input against the realities on the ground. The pathway concludes with a Capstone Project, a strategic project carried out on a real issue in your company and supervised by an academic tutor. Your employer gets a tangible return on investment from it. An optional Learning Expedition also offers you a week of international immersion in a strategic country.

Eligible for the CPF (personal training account), the programme can also be funded through other schemes: the amounts and procedures are set out in the Funding tab.

Progress or change course with the Executive Master Grande École

Graduates work in a variety of sectors, from industry to healthcare, by way of insurance, energy and the public sector. They hold positions at a high level of responsibility, such as:

• Business Leader and Company Manager
• Business Unit Director
• Sales and Marketing Director
• Communications Director
• Regional or Area Director
• Director of Projects or Strategic Partnerships
• Performance or Transformation Manager
• Innovation Project Manager
• Senior Account Manager/Key Account Director

For a working professional, this degree is above all a lever for advancement. It strengthens your managerial legitimacy and gives you the overall vision needed to make high-impact decisions, whether you are aiming for a director-level position in your current company or a broader role elsewhere.

If you are preparing a career change, it helps you to reposition yourself: a Bac+5-level degree and a cross-cutting understanding of the company are two assets to put forward to a recruiter when you change function or sector. To think this project through, the page devoted to the question of changing career into management takes stock of the entry requirements.