— Who we are
Reliable, collaborative, straightforward.
Kempkens x Kohler is led by two founding partners who stand for quality, speed, and unconventional approaches. Every search mandate is handled exclusively by Oliver Kempkens and Sebastian Kohler—from the initial briefing through to the final placement.
Oliver has been the youngest executive hire at Russell Reynolds Associates Germany, where he co-founded the digital practice. Before that, he served as VP at SAP in Palo Alto and Walldorf, playing a pivotal role in the firm's intellectual renewal.
Sebastian Kohler is Founder and Managing Partner of Kempkens × Kohler. He advises companies, shareholders and investors on strategically important leadership appointments at senior management, managing director and C-level, and supports them in building high-performing leadership teams.
— Our edge
Our approach is deliberately different.
We adapt to our partners' working habits, ensuring a seamless alignment. This can be in terms of communication during the project, process design and any other adjustments along the way. Each project is individually set up according to our partner's needs.
Every mandate is led personally by Oliver Kempkens and Sebastian Kohler—from strategic profile definition and discreet identification to direct engagement and successful placement. Their direct involvement in research and selection ensures outstanding quality, clear differentiation, and deep understanding—paired with the precision and judgment that define top-tier executive search.
By handling the entire search project ourselves (without back-office involvement), we are able to reduce our internal coordination effort to an utmost minimum. This enables us to rapidly deliver results and build a high momentum.
We understand the importance of culturally aligned high-performance teams. Therefore, it is important to us to understand our partner's culture, by spending time onsite and ideally talking to different people across various teams.
— A Selection of our Clients
Our client base continues to grow—because we deliver on what we promise
What our clients say
"The collaboration with Kempkens x Kohler at Vetter impressed me both professionally and personally. The team has a remarkable ability to quickly understand complex requirements and organizational structures and translate them into a strong sense for identifying the right personalities. I particularly value the direct, trust-based and straightforward collaboration with Oliver Kempkens and Sebastian Kohler. Beyond our joint projects, we have developed a valuable professional exchange that I personally appreciate greatly. To me, Kempkens x Kohler represents executive search at eye level – personal, fast and driven by exceptionally high standards of quality."
"What I particularly value about working with Kempkens × Kohler is that they work fast, flexibly and with a great deal of independence. In a startup environment, topics and priorities shift constantly. I don't need lengthy coordination rounds — I need people who quickly grasp what matters, take ownership and move things forward. That is exactly what works so well with Kempkens × Kohler. I can hand over a topic and know it will be thought through independently and executed cleanly. When something changes along the way, they respond pragmatically and find a solution. For me, this is a collaboration that creates very little overhead while adding real pace — and in the day-to-day of a biotech startup, that is incredibly valuable."
"Agile, personal, tailor-made, and impressively fast — exactly the kind of partner a medium-sized company needs. The collaboration was highly professional, transparent, and consistently aligned with our specific requirements. An executive search provider that truly understands what drives the Mittelstand and delivers genuine added value."
"Many thanks to Sebastian Kohler and Oliver Kempkens for their excellent cooperation – professional, reliable, and with a keen understanding of my requirements!"
"Kempkens × Kohler stands out through excellent service, fast and well-structured process and high-caliber candidates."
"I have always experienced Oliver and Sebastian as reliable partners. Results so far: 100% accuracy of fit!"
"The collaboration with Kempkens × Kohler was exceptional from the very start. The team combines strategic clarity with creativity — above all with pace and a deep understanding of brand and business. The results moved ryd forward noticeably: strong on substance, genuinely partnership-driven and always with the ambition to create real impact."
— Award – 2026
Recommended by Clients and Candidates
Our recognition as a FOCUS Top Staffing Service Provider 2026 is based on the experiences of clients and candidates who have worked with us directly — independently reviewed, firsthand!
