HONG KONG — Sandpiper has hired FleishmanHillard's Michael Rinaman to lead its global strategy practice from Hong Kong.

Rinaman joins the independent PR consultancy after six years with FleishmanHillard, the past two of which were spent leading the OPRG agency's global and Asia-Pacific analytics practice in Hong Kong.

At Sandpiper, he will lead the development and growth of the firm’s strategy practice globally, while integrating with its digital communications and research and insights offerings. The latter unit remains led by Asia-Pacific head of strategy Rob van Alphen.

“Michael’s embrace of communications innovation and vast experience across the region and globally will make him an indispensable asset to our clients," said Sandpiper CEO Emma Smith. "As reputation and communications strategy evolves, Sandpiper is continually investing to help our clients navigate change."

Rinaman, who was named to PRovoke Media's Innovator 25 list last year, joined Fleishman in 2018 after five years of building the analytics business at H&K Strategies. 

"The need for data-validated strategies is evolving at a rapid pace across the globe and especially in Asia-Pacific," said Rinaman. "To be able to join Sandpiper, which is consistently investing in the capabilities that communicators need for the future, gives me the opportunity to embrace that change and focus on combining intuition and insight for the sake of more successful client strategy."