Joachim joined on 30th October 2006 as CEO of the Amber Group and Managing Director of The Amber Chemical Company Limited. He is a German national with a degree in chemistry and has lived and worked in Belgium, Germany and France. Prior to joining Amber he was President and CEO of Luzenac, a Rio Tinto subsidiary and prior to this he was European President for Ferro Corporation. He had previously held a number of senior management positions in the European chemical industry.