Steering the Future of Global Standards: How Iperium Manages ETSI’s Electoral Recruitment Process

But few are as unique, or as institutionally important as the ETSI Director General election.

Every five years, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) runs a global election to select the individual who will lead one of the world’s most respected standardization bodies.

This isn’t just a leadership appointment. It’s a political, diplomatic, and strategic event, one that defines the direction of global ICT standards for the next half a decade.

Since 2010, Iperium has been entrusted with leading this process from start to finish.

The Director General is the public face of ETSI, representing the institute across governments, industry alliances, and international regulatory forums.

For decades, the position had been filled internally, with candidates drawn exclusively from ETSI’s membership ranks.

But, that changed when the Board sought something different: a leader from outside the organisation, someone who could bring fresh perspective and global weight.

That’s when Iperium was brought in.

Managing an election of this scale requires far more than sourcing high calibre talent. It demands:

• Neutrality whilst engaging a broad base of candidates with various experiences.
• Strict adherence to governance frameworks and electoral regulations
• Stakeholder diplomacy across the ETSI Board, General Assembly, and wider membership committee
• Speed, confidentiality, and transparency to uphold trust at every step

We blended executive search methodology with electoral governance, managing sensitive internal politics, designing fair candidate evaluation processes, and ensuring the right leaders were surfaced and supported.

Our first engagement resulted in the appointment of Luis Jorge Romero, who became one of the longest serving ETSI’s Director General’s.

Since then, we’ve repeated this process three electoral cycles in a row, most recently supporting the 2024 appointment of Jan Ellsberger.

We coordinated:

• International candidate search (ETSI members and external leaders)
• Interview Days in France and Germany
• Final shortlist preparation and General Assembly vote facilitation

For ETSI, we’re more than a search partner, we’re the custodians of an institutionally critical process.

And our ability to blend political sensitivity with rigorous executive assessment has made us the goto partner for these landmark appointments.

• Delivered successful elections for 3 consecutive Director General cycles
• Entrusted by 3 separate ETSI Election Committee’s.
• Helped shift ETSI toward a more modern, globally minded leadership profile

What makes Iperium different?

• We understand global telecoms and technology landscape like few others.
• We operate with the discretion and neutrality required in governance environments.
• We don’t just find leaders, we support institutional transformation.

The DG appointment isn’t just a hire. It’s a vote of confidence in the future.

Iperium ensures that vote delivers the leader ETSI needs to thrive.