Emmanuel Hemmerle will be based in Shanghai. He was previously a partner at rival Heidrick & Struggles where he specialized in the consumer and industrial practices and industry segments such as retail, fashion, luxury goods, hospitality, automotive, as well as equipment and process industries.

Hemmerle will also be a member of the firm's board & chief executive services practice, focussing on board director and CEO searches, board effectiveness, and CEO succession planning and executive assessments. Hemmerle has spent the last twelve years living and working in China.

It is the second senior hire from Heidrick & Struggles in as many days, as Navnit Singh joins Korn/Ferry tomorrow as chairman and country head of India, also functioning as global technology market leader for the unit.

Singh brings 30 years of industry experience to the role and was managing partner of the global technology and services practice for Asia-Pacific, and most recently a member of the global chief human resources officer practice Heidrick & Struggles.

Korn/Ferry, based in Los Angeles, says it was the first major global executive search firm to operate in Asia-Pacific when it opened its doors in Tokyo in 1973. Today it has eighteen offices in Asia.