Till has held the top job for the past three years, brought in to replace Greg Novak and “turn things around” after a run of bad results.

However the firm continued to perform poorly under Till’s leadership, with its most recent results for the three months ended 31 March showing revenues down 7.5% to $38.1m, a decline of 9% excluding exchange rate effects, and operating losses more than doubling to $1.9m from $0.9m a year ago.

In the wake of Till’s departure, Angrisani, who was president of Harris between 2002 and 2004, will serve as interim CEO until the end of June 2012. After that he will, by mutual agreement, become president and CEO for the next financial year.

Harris chairman Howard Shecter said: “I have known Al for more than 15 years and am pleased to welcome him back to Harris. He has an outstanding reputation as a corporate turnaround executive, a proven track record of success in enhancing shareholder value, and significant market research industry experience.

“Given his recent consulting assignment, which involved conducting a review of Harris’ strategy and operations, we believe that he understands what steps Harris must take to improve its performance and fully leverage its strong brand and innovative culture to benefit its clients and shareholders.”

Angrisani was previously CEO of Greenfield Online.