Contacted by Placement agency, very professional. Short HR interview, an underling substituted at the last minute for the Director. Hiring manager phone interview was about 1 hr, detailed mix of technical and soft skills assessment. Interview trip met again with a last minute substitute HR representatice (generally interviewed corporate/office positions, not technical) who could not answer technical ladder, reward/incentive systems or how projects/programs are evaluated versus individual objectives. Technical seminar well-attended, individual meetings were only with directors and above. Lunch was with 4 peer or direct reports scientists. One junior scientist was wife of a long-time friend. All formal 1 on 1 interviews asked the same 3 questions - have you ever had to fire someone, what was your greatest technical achievement and what was your most memorable "non-success." 6 interviewers, all the same questions. Was supposed to finish off the trip with a short visit with the HR director, since he had missed me entirely, but he went home early. The company refused to reimburse me for traveling expenses for the trip (5 hrs driving). My friend told me they laughed about my candidacy as "the bald, old guy with the funny moustache." Appears you can't work for a French comany if you have a moustache. Look at my LinkedIn profile and save us all some time . Process took 9 weeks.