According to SportBusiness, Schaefer is set to leave his role following the Paralympic Games - scheduled to conclude September 5.

Schaefer has been with the IPC since 2002 and assumed his current position in 2011, having previously worked as senior manager of marketing and broadcasting.

This was confirmed to insidethegames by IPC chief executive Mike Peters.

"Having joined the IPC in 2002, Alexis has been responsible for developing and managing the commercial and marketing area since 2008," said Peters.

"Alexis was the lead architect during the IPC’s creation of the IPC Worldwide Partnership programme. 

"Effectively starting from scratch, Alexis built the programme into such an attractive property that it has now been integrated into the International Olympic Committee TOP Programme. 

"As a result, long-term partnerships with the likes of Allianz and Toyota have not just benefited the IPC but more importantly has stimulated support for National Paralympic Committees around the world and given Para-athletes greater profile.

"In terms of broadcasting, Alexis has helped significantly increase the reach, breadth and depth of Paralympic coverage. 

"He has done so by developing strong partnerships with the likes of Channel 4, NHK and NBC. 

"Indeed, the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games are expected to reach a record cumulative TV audience of 4.25 billion people in more than 160 countries, including free-to-air coverage in Africa for the first time.

"Following the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, Alexis will have worked on 10 editions of the Paralympic Games and played a critical role in the growth of the IPC and Paralympic Movement.

"On behalf of the IPC and the Paralympic Movement, I would like to extend our sincere thanks to Alexis for his 19 years of dedicated service, commitment and contributions to the Paralympic Movement, a period of time which has seen continued growth in all areas."

Schaefer, who was born in Bonn in Germany where the IPC headquarters are located, has recently overseen commercial and broadcast agreements including a European rights deal with Infront, covering the Beijing 2022 and Paris 2024 Games.

It was announced earlier this year that Infront, which has secured rights across 51 territories and countries, excluding the United Kingdom, will take over from Eurovision Sport as the rights-holder across Europe for the Paralympics.

A record-breaking number of sports are due to be broadcast live from Tokyo 2020 Paralympics - 14 - and Schaefer previously targeted beating the 4.1 billion people the IPC says made up the cumulative audience for the Rio 2016 Paralympics.