Born in Karlsruhe, Germany, in 1968, Dr. Schindler studied economics at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, from where he graduated in 1994. Between 1995 and 1998 he worked as personal assistant of two Members of Parliament in the German Bundestag, Bonn. In 1998 he joined the Federation of German Wholesale and Foreign Trage (BGA) in Bonn/Berlin as personal assistant and speechwriter of Association's President.

Between 2001 and 2004 he studied at the Institute of Economic Policy at the University of Cologne, Germany, where he wrote his thesis and obtained a doctorate degree in 2004.

Dr. Schindler was appointed Economist of the International Textile Manufacturers Federation on October 1, 2004 and was promoted to the position of Director in 2006. At the Federation's Annual Conference in Dubai, UAE, in September 2006 he was nominated and elected Director General as of January 1, 2007.