The Renault Formula 1 team has boosted its engineering team ahead of the 2017 season with appointment of Rob White to the role of operations director, whilst Ciaron Pilbeam has taken up the position of chief race engineer.
White moves over from engine partner Renault, where he held a deputy managing director role as well as and engine technical director.
Meanwhile Pilbeam, who previously worked at BAR, Red Bull and Lotus (which is now Renault) before switching to McLaren in 2014, returns to the Enstone-based team.
Renault has been looking to boost its staffing numbers following its takeover of Lotus in late-2015 and managing director Cyril Abiteboul says they've already boosted their workforce by 20 per cent in just a year.
"Expansion is not the work of a moment so we've been recruiting people through the year and they have been joining us throughout the season," Abiteboul said.
"It's definitely a case of targeting a quality workforce to come join us, but we do require a significant quantity of personnel in Enstone as we grow at a level allowing us to fight against the top teams.
"As part of this I'm happy to confirm that we have two appointments to Enstone's senior management with Rob White, transferring from Viry-Chatillon as operations director and Ciaron Pilbeam returning to us as chief race engineer.
"In terms of facilities, we are significantly increasing our on-site CNC machining capacity with two new machines in a dedicated building, a new spray and preparation facility is currently being built and we will shortly start extending our main factory building by approximately 800m2 to house the expansion of almost every department at Enstone."
There have also been changes at Viry, where the engine department is based, following the move from supplier to works team.
"At Viry-Chatillon we've been working on the structure with a process of further evolution to the changes started in the recent past," added Abiteboul.
"This has meant adapting the structure to change from a power unit supplier to part of a full manufacturer entry in addition to continuing as a supplier to other parties, as well as targeted headcount expansion for better control of our skills and talents."
