HIEC Names Three New Partners

November 2, 2022 – Global search firm H.I. Executive Consulting (HIEC) has named two new partners, Michael Otte and David Ferguson, to its industrial practice in addition to a new partner, Carmen Koch, to its consumer and retail practice.

Mr. Otte, who will be based in Atlanta, joins the firm from global HR consultancy Kienbaum, where as vice president he was responsible for building up and managing the executive search, HR consulting/advisory, and operations excellence business in the U.S. “HIEC is a fast growing business and I am very pleased to welcome someone of Michael’s experience and caliber to our partner team,” said Stacey Mainiero, HIEC’s CEO. “His experience, combined with his knowledge and global insight will prove extremely valuable to us as a firm going forward.”

Before joining Kienbaum, Mr. Otte held a number of roles within the executive search space, including six years at Heidrick & Struggles working with clients in manufacturing, automotive, transportation and logistics, and consumer. He also spent time as a principal at A.T. Kearney and began his career as a project manager focused on international training and development assignments in Asia and Eastern Europe based in Munich, Germany.

Deep Experience

Mr. Ferguson, who will be based in Pensacola, FL, joins HIEC from The Ropella Group, an executive search firm specializing in the chemical, consumer products, and technology industries, where he served as director, client partnership development.

“David adds further experience to our global industrial practice and in particular our North America team,” said Ms. Mainiero. “We are excited to have added another partner of his stature to our fast growing firm. I look forward to working with him at HIEC.”

Mr. Ferguson has over 35 years of experience in the chemical, allied, and high technology industries, using a blend of technology and rich networking to build long-lasting, deep relationships, said HIEC. He has strong first-hand knowledge of customers, facilities, production, and current trends across the executive search market.

Prior to The Ropella Group, Mr. Ferguson held a number of roles including project manager CRSDBCI, director of placement  and area director of recruitment at ITT / ECAITT, and director of operations, director of recruitment at Avail-Ability Personnel.

International Retail

Ms. Koch, who will be based in Germany, comes to HIEC from MU, a global leadership acquisition and advisory firm based in Frankfurt, where she was a director and a member of the firm’s consumer markets practice group, co-leading the global consumer goods market. Her client focus includes global brands, family- and mid-sized companies and fast-growing businesses across a wide range of consumer and retail markets. Ms. Koch has a deep understanding of large international, German based brands across the retail sector.

Prior to MU, Ms. Koch was a client partner at Korn Ferry where she spent over 13 years across a number of roles. Prior to that, she was EMEA market leader for the internal professional search division, focusing on consumer and retail markets. She has been in executive search for almost 20 years and began her career in consulting for Employer Branding & Assessments.

“It is a great time to be joining HIEC, a truly global executive search firm,” said Ms. Koch. “I look forward to bringing my experience to the firm and working alongside our fast-growing team.”

Related: HIEC Expands Industrial and Consumer and Retail Practices

HIEC is a global transformational executive search firm founded in 2007, focused on hiring transformational board, CEO, and senior-level executives globally for our digital focused clients. The firm operates across 13 offices in North America, Europe, Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.

Newly Appointed CEO

In June, HIEC named Ms. Mainiero as its CEO, based in New York. “It gives me great pleasure to welcome Stacey to HIEC during an exciting period for the firm,” said chairman Michael Bornhaeusser. We are a fast-growing organization focused on delivering transformational leaders for our digital focused clients and Stacey’s skills and experience will prove invaluable as HIEC enters the next phase of its growth acceleration journey with expansion into new markets and territories.”

Ms. Mainiero joins HIEC from ZRG Partners where she was COO, managing and overseeing the firm’s global corporate activity of retained executive search and talent management across the firm’s global offices. In this role, Ms. Mainiero provided leadership and direction across the operational functions of the firm including finance, IT, HR, recruitment, and research. During her time at ZRG, she obtained private equity investment to fuel the ongoing growth of the firm. Ms. Mainiero has over 20 years of leadership experience, having previously held a number of roles including operating as an executive search partner and as senior director of operations at Korn Ferry.

Related: H.I. Executive Consulting Expands in New York

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media