Founding partners

portrait Kai Liebe

Kai Liebe

Managing Partner

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Kai Matthias Liebe's international education included spells at the Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz (CH) and the Hochalpines Institut in Ftan (CH). He completed his dissertation at a medium-sized, owner-managed commercial enterprise in Hamburg and subsequently went to Switzerland for three-and-a-half years to work for an owner-managed industrial holding company operating on the international stage. Initially he was in charge of Corporate Development, later on assuming responsibility for International Business Development. Next he moved to Munich to work for a leading global, listed Anglo-American recruitment consultancy, where he rose to become team leader for the Finance, Human Resources and Industry practice groups in Southern Germany. From here, he was head-hunted by a leading, owner-managed German executive search consultancy seeking to establish its Munich site. Focussing on the industry and professional services sectors, Kai Matthias Liebe worked to recruit managing directors, managing and supervisory board members on behalf of national and international clients. His previous experience and the fact that he himself is from a family of entrepreneurs made Kai Matthias Liebe acutely aware of the need for specialist consulting with the emphasis on SMEs. He lost no time in putting this idea into practice. Kai Matthias Liebe is a founder of the recruitment consulting company Liebe · Sutor · Gawlowski.

portrait Markus Sutor

Markus Sutor

Managing Partner

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Markus Sutor began his studies in business management at Munich's Ludwig Maximilian University before completing his degree at the distance-learning university in Hagen, thus enabling him to fulfil his professional obligations at the same time. He was involved in a number of start-up projects during his student days. Among other things, he founded a printing service company with operations throughout Germany and a local graphics & advertising agency, both of which he sold in 2009/2010. His other investments have included nationally renowned companies based in the food and IT sector, in which he is a silent partner. During his many years of entrepreneurial activity he gleaned an in-depth knowledge of company set-up, expansion and personnel management, and is now a managing partner at LSG & Kollegen GmbH. His extensive experience in the field of owner-managed SMEs made him an expert in the “problem area” of company succession and the existing gap in placing managers who are a perfect match for the company in question. This gave him the idea of providing a consulting service tailored specifically to these requirements. In addition to his work as a managing partner, Markus Alfons Sutor's specialist know-how and network are put to good use in the field of executive search in the Consumer Goods sector. Markus Sutor is a founder of the recruitment consulting company Liebe · Sutor · Gawlowski.

portrait Adrian Gawlowski

Adrian Gawlowski

Managing Partner

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Adrian Piotr Gawlowski completed his international business management studies in Atlanta (USA), Paderborn (DE) and Barcelona (ESP). He launched his career in human resources management at a leading German car manufacturer. He subsequently devoted himself to his postgraduate studies in economics at the Reims Management School (FRA) and the Dublin City University Business School (IRL), going on to work for a leading global, listed Anglo-American recruitment consultancy, where he became team leader for the Automotive and Industry practice group in Southern Germany. Next came a move to an owner-managed German executive search consultancy. Here he was initially in charge of business development for the Automotive division at the Stuttgart headquarters. As the company continued to expand successfully, he was put in charge of setting up and developing the Munich office and managing activities in Eastern Europe, predominately based in Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania. Focussing on the automotive and manufacturing industry sectors, Adrian Piotr Gawlowski created a highly professional team of consultants and senior consultants to assess the qualities of and recruit managing directors as well as managing and supervisory board members on behalf of national and international clients. Adrian Gawlowski is a founder of the recruitment consulting company Liebe · Sutor · Gawlowski.

Partners

portrait Christiane Kraus

Christiane Kraus

Partner

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Christiane Kraus completed her international studies in psychology, specialising in occupational, industrial and organisational psychology, in Bonn and Madrid. She also pocketed a business degree from the University of Bonn.

During her studies, Christiane Kraus worked for various HR consultancies, subsequently launching her career proper at an owner-managed consulting boutique, where she covered the full recruitment consulting portfolio, including targeted search and selection, training and HR development. Next, Christiane Kraus moved to Frankfurt to work for a renowned international executive search consultancy, where she specialised in the consumer goods, industry and financial services sectors.

She subsequently went to Singapore, initially working as an in-house recruiter for a Swiss bank with responsibility for recruitment at management level, before being put in charge of establishing and running the private banking recruitment section for the Asia-Pacific region.

Returning to Germany, Christiane Kraus once again turned her attention to the field of executive search, where she has to date focussed on the Media/Entertainment and Consumer Goods & Lifestyle sectors with a clientèle that includes SMEs, start-ups and multi-nationals alike.

Given her long-standing expertise in direct recruitment both in Germany and abroad, and experience gleaned in the course of in-house and consultancy positions, Christiane Kraus has acquired a broad know-how of various aspects of the consultancy sector.

portrait Michael Kleiser

Michael Kleiser

Managing Partner

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Michael Kleiser obtained a degree in education at Georg August University in Göttingen, specialising in the fields of consulting, training, coaching, communication and management. He also studied politics and law as subsidiary subject.

During his studies, Mr. Kleiser contributed to various management training courses run by a Munich-based trainer network and worked for an international recruitment consulting company, also in Munich.

Mr. Kleiser launched his career with a Paris-based executive search consultancy active on the world stage, where he was able to acquire experience in international projects. He went on to become technical manager of the Munich office with responsibility for the Automotive and Electronics practice groups.

This was followed by a move to an owner-managed recruitment consulting company in Munich, which under his aegis became the preferred supplier of several of the world’s leading manufacturers and suppliers to the automotive and electronics industry. As Head of Key Account Management, Mr. Kleiser was responsible for the ongoing development of these practice groups.

At the same time, Mr. Kleiser’s experience as a qualified systemic organisational consultant helped him to develop an innovative executive search approach that has proved particularly successful in filling vacant managerial positions at levels 1 and 2.

Michael Kleiser is Managing Partner at Liebe · Sutor · Gawlowski, where he is responsible for Automotive and Electronics.

portrait Tobias Simon

Tobias Simon

Partner Sports Management

Tobias Simon has been enthusiastic about competitive sport since he was 8 years old. In the end, he decided to pursue his dream of becoming a professional tennis player. 

After he was accepted into the Munich performance squad of the BTV (Bavarian Tennis Association) at the age of 12, his first tournament victories at national level followed. In order to realize his dream of playing on the international ATP Tour (Association Tennis Professional), he completed his A-levels at the age of 17 so that he could focus on his international professional career. 

This was followed very quickly by participation in his first ATP tournament at the BMW Open in Munich. At the age of 21, he reached the 1st Bundesliga, the highest team competition in Germany. He played for the teams of MTTC Iphitos (Munich), TV Reutlingen (Stuttgart) and TC Bredeney (Essen). 

During his worldwide ATP-related travels, he networked early on with athletes from other sports, particularly from the world of professional soccer. He had already developed a special enthusiasm and passion for soccer and tennis as a child.

Through his career as a professional athlete, he was also able to build up an extensive network of medical specialists, physiotherapists, osteopaths, performance coaches and officials. 

He became particularly familiar with the highs and, above all, the lows of professional competitive sport when he had to end his career at the age of 31 due to a serious injury. 

His time in team sports in particular inspired him so much that, as a former professional athlete, it is important to him to be able to advise athletes, especially those involved in soccer, on their young and established careers in the professional and highly competitive world of professional soccer and to offer them the best possible support.

portrait Niklas Held

Niklas Held

Partner

Niklas Held completed his bachelor's and master's degree in business administration at the University of St. Gallen, focusing on marketing, service and communications management. He refined his international profile by spending six months at the Jönköping International Business School in Sweden.

Niklas Held started his professional career at a leading German listed personnel consulting company based in Munich. Here, he successfully recruited specialist and management positions in highly qualified finance and accounting as a senior consultant for several years.

Subsequently, he took over the establishment and development of a finance team as Managing Consultant. He quickly developed this team into one of the most successful teams in the division and thus made a significant contribution to the success of the entire branch.

Niklas Held has many years of expertise and broad knowledge in personnel consulting, which he can make available to his clients even more exclusively as a partner at LSG & Kollegen.

portrait Lea Wüst

Lea Wüst

Consultant

Lea Wüst has been supporting the LSG team as a Junior Consultant since 2021 and is mainly responsible for processes in the consumer goods and pharmaceutical sectors.

After studying bioinformatics at TUM and LMU in Munich, she started her career in personnel consulting.

During her studies, she was already able to gain extensive experience in sales, investment and brand management.

In order to deepen her focus in the pharmaceutical sector, she is currently studying part-time at the SRH University of Applied Sciences for a B.Sc. in Pharmaceutical Technology and Management.

portrait Bence Balogh

Bence Balogh

Managing Director of LSG-CEE Kft. (Budapest) and senior advisor to LSG & Langanke AG (Zurich/Basel)

Bence Balogh is managing director of LSG-CEE Kft. (Budapest) and senior advisor to LSG & Langanke AG (Zurich/Basel).

Bence Balogh has 6+ years of professional experience as a senior consultant with a focus on Information Technology, Industry and Pharma/Healthcare in filling management positions, engineers and specialists.

He has an established network of candidates and decision-makers in the supported industries and the regions CEE (Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Romania), D-A-CH, EMEA, APAC, LATAM, NAM at developer and engineering level up to the first and second level second management level.

Bence Balogh graduated from the Budapest University of Economics in "Business Administration and Management" with a specialization in HR management.