Simon Fink will step down as Managing Director of Intelligent Research in Sponsoring (IRIS) GmbH on 30 September to pursue new adventures.
Fink, 39, joined IRIS in 2017 as Chief Operating Officer. He became a member of the Executive Board in 2019 before being appointed Managing Director alongside IRIS co-founders Peter Weber (CEO) and Christian Riedle (President Sales) in 2021.
“It’s been an incredible journey with brilliant colleagues,” said Fink. “Together, we have reached major milestones in our industry.”
Fink’s journey with IRIS began in 2010 at Sport + Markt/Repucom (now Nielsen Sports) where, as Insights Manager, he met Peter Weber - then Chief Operating Officer of Europe - and Christian Riedle, who was Managing Director D/A/CH.
In 2013, Fink was headhunted from Repucom by sponsorship strategy and activation agency DO IT!, rising to the role of Client Services Director.
Weber and Riedle went on together to launch IRIS one year later in 2014.
Then, three years later, Fink was reunited with Weber and Riedle.
“We’ve seen exceptional growth of the team here at IRIS, and highly successful internationalisation,” explained Fink.
“Keeping a close eye on sustainability, while helping to grow IRIS exponentially - and successfully facing the huge challenge presented by the pandemic - will be just some of the memories I will be banking for the future!
“It’s been an amazing career opportunity working alongside Peter and Christian, who have such a long track record in this industry, and it’s been a real honour to work with the expert team of over 65 people we now have at IRIS. I will miss everyone. It’s now time for my next adventure,” concluded Fink.
“On behalf of everyone here at IRIS, we want to thank Simon for his passion and dedication to helping us reach vital breakthroughs, making us the company we are today,” said Weber.
“Over the last six years, Simon has helped us to take firm business growth decisions, always with essential focus on our team and our customer experience.
“We have greatly valued Simon’s deep commitment to building IRIS and his passionate leadership, and we’re excited for Simon as he embarks on his next career path.”
“These are exciting times for us all, as brands look deeper and deeper into the attitudes and behaviour of consumers as a result of key sponsorships,” concluded Riedle.
“Simon has been a fantastic ally across our product development and international sales journey - we will miss him and we’re wishing him success in his next adventure.”
Thank you, Simon, from us all at IRIS!