Franchi reflects on a career that took him across four countries and taught him to see cultural differences as the greatest strength of Tenaris. Tenaris
Claudio Franchi first came across a Tenaris job posting in 2010. He was a 24-year-old engineering student in northern Italy with a fairly conventional plan for his future. He imagined a linear career path, probably in Italy, with clear rules and predictable steps. Then one word on the job posting caught his attention: Argentina. "At the time, I didn't even have a passport," he recalls. "But something about the opportunity excited me." A few months later, he was on a plane to the other side of the world.
More than a decade later, that first leap has turned into a career spanning four countries. After graduating in Industrial Management Engineering from the University of Brescia, Franchi joined Tenaris in 2011 through the Global Trainee Program, and today serves as Quality Assurance Manager for service and distribution operations across the United States, based in Houston.
His first assignment took him to TenarisSiderca, the company’s industrial center in Argentina, where he worked in the steel shop. "It's a place where production never stops, and that's where I really understood what it means to work in an industrial environment where every decision has a direct impact," he says. What could have been an intimidating environment turned out to be eye-opening. "It taught me responsibility, teamwork and trust. It was also where I built some of my first strong relationships within the company."
The second half of his Global Trainee experience took him further south: nine months in Patagonia, working at an oil field alongside colleagues from all over the world. In that remote environment, he says, working with people from very different backgrounds changed the way he saw the world. "Every day, you encountered different habits, traditions and ways of looking at the world. I learned to listen more carefully, to appreciate different perspectives and to understand that there is rarely only one right way to do things."
During his first assignment to the steel shop in TenarisSiderca, Argentina. Tenaris
In one of his motorcycle adventures in Texas, 2024. Tenaris
After Argentina, Franchi returned to Italy, where he joined the Customer Assistance team in Dalmine, supporting both OCTG and Line Pipe projects. In the years that followed, his career took him to Brazil and later the United Kingdom, where he gradually moved into quality-related roles. "Each move offered a different perspective on the business," he says. "It helped me understand how different parts of the organization work together to deliver value to customers."
Today in Houston, Franchi focuses on the quality aspects of Tenaris's service and distribution operations across the United States, working closely with field service teams and with a network of vendors that handle threading, assembly and pipe storage close to customer regions. "A key part of my role is ensuring that the same quality standards are consistently applied wherever our products are handled, whether that's at a service yard, a vendor facility or directly at a customer location."
Looking back, Franchi sees Tenaris's international identity as central to his career. "Growing up in a small town in northern Italy, I had a fairly limited view of the world," he reflects. "Tenaris helped me broaden that perspective, introducing me to new cultures, languages and ways of thinking." His advice to those starting their careers is simple: stay curious and be open to new experiences. It's the same curiosity, he says, that first led him to Argentina, and the one that today takes him hiking in Wyoming or riding motorcycles with Tenaris colleagues on Texas weekends.
For more information about Tenaris, please follow us on Facebook, X, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
Claudio and his wife Stefy, who also works in Tenaris. Tenaris