A former president of Esomar, Bretcha takes up the role as Pravin Shekar’s three-month term in the role concludes.

Bretcha will act as statutory director of the organisation until a permanent director general is named, working with the leadership team and reporting to Esomar president Kristin Luck.

Bretcha was most recently international director at digital data collection company Netquest, and has previously worked at Synovate and Kantar.

He was an Esomar council member for two consecutive terms from 2015 to 2018. In January 2019, he was elected as Esomar president, and has served most recently as president ex-officio.

Luck said: “On behalf of the council, I am thrilled to welcome Joaquim as Esomar’s interim director general. His deep internal knowledge of Esomar as a council member and past-president, plus his amazing depth of experience in the global market research industry, will help us continue to meet the changing needs of our member base around the world.

“I would also like to extend council’s thanks to outgoing interim director general, Pravin Shekar, for his guidance and steady hand over the past three months as we navigated a number of leadership changes.”

Bretcha said: “I am very excited to use my experience to contribute to the success of Esomar. I believe that Esomar belongs to its members, who express their desire to elevate the institution and properly serve the needs our industry faces. This will be my focus along with the professional team and the incoming president and council.”