Hewlett-Packard has hired head-hunting firm Russell Reynolds Associates to help it find a new chief executive officer following the departure last week of former chairman and CEO Carly Fiorina. The search will be conducted with the "highest level of confidentiality," HP said Thursday, adding that it will not comment further on the hunt for a new chief executive.

Fiorina's sudden departure on Feb. 9, which was pinned on a disagreement with HP's board over how to execute the company's strategy, has led to wide speculation over who will replace her at the helm. HP's chief financial officer, Robert P. Wayman, has taken over as CEO on an interim basis, while HP director Patricia Dunn became nonexecutive chairman.

Privately held Russell Reynolds is headquartered in New York and has 32 worldwide offices, including one in San Francisco and one in Menlo Park, California, near HP's Palo Alto, California, headquarters. It has helped find board members for U.K. mobile communications company mm02 PLC, and CEOs for companies such as Aetna and Bank One.

The search for new executives at HP will be led by Russell Reynolds executives Andrea Redmond and Charles Tribbett, from the company's CEO and Board Services Practice team, HP said.