Markus Hofer is a Managing Director at Russell Reynolds Associates in Zurich, where he specializes in CEO and board leadership transitions within the global healthcare and life sciences industries. With over a decade of experience in executive search and assessment, he previously served as a Principal and Global Head of the Life Sciences Practice at a-connect, where he oversaw global teams and assumed interim leadership during critical turnarounds. Markus’s deep industry expertise is further informed by his tenure at Novartis in strategic planning and sales management, as well as his background in biotechnology venture capital as a co-founder of ultreia capital and an investment manager at Lombard Odier. He began his career as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company, serving multinational clients across healthcare, telecommunications, and finance. He holds an MSc in Biotechnology from ETH Zürich and an MBA from INSEAD, with further executive training in finance and leadership from Harvard Business School and IESE Business School.