Oliver Wyman partner Bernard Birchler joins Bain & Company
Bernard Birchler, a Paris-based partner of Oliver Wyman and former global head of the firm’s Operations service line, has moved over to Bain & Company. At Bain, Birchler has been appointed a partner.
After graduating in 1986, Bernard Birchler (55) started his career in the consulting industry with Bossard Consultants, a French management consultancy. In 1997, after Bossard Consultants was acquired by Capgemini, Birchler moved over to Gemini Consulting, the consulting firm arm of the IT services giant (nowadays Capgemini Consulting). At Gemini Consulting, Birchler served as Vice President and supported clients with a range of large business transformations.
In 2002, after four years with the consultancy, Birchler decided to embark on a new adventure and founded his own consulting firm: Hemeria. Under Birchler’s leadership the firm grew from a startup into a mid-sized player in the French consulting market – by 2008 Hemeria had six partners and more than 80 employees. The firm specialised in operations management and operational excellence, across sectors, including manufacturing, process industries, financial services, packaged consumer goods, retail, telecommunications, IT and utilities.
In March 2008 Hemeria was picked up by Oliver Wyman, with Birchler transitioning to the role of partner at the Paris office of the management consulting subsidiary of March & McLennan Companies. Over the past eight years the seasoned consultant has assisted dozens of CEOs and senior executives with the design and delivery of major transformation and performance-oriented programmes. Latterly, Birchler led Oliver Wyman’s Manufacturing, Transportation and Energy practice, and previously he served as the firm’s global head of its Operations practice.
Per the 1st of October Birchler has joined Bain & Company, where he has been named a partner. The Paris office of Bain was founded in 1985, and today has a team of nearly 300 employees. The French operation is led by former A.T. Kearney consultant Domenico Azzarello, who succeeded Jean-Marc Le Roux at the start of 2014, he stood over five years at the helm of Bain’s French unit.
