Philippe Camus (pictured), the chairman of Alcatel Lucent who hired Ben Verwaayen as chief executive, will seek an extension to his current contract when it expires in May.

The chairman’s request will be put before the company’s annual general meeting on May 7, according to Bloomberg.

The company announced last week that Verwaayen will step down as CEO, having failed to deliver a turnaround at the struggling telecoms vendor. His contract runs out at the same time as Camus’ in May.

Verwaayen said he will leave once a successor is appointed.

Camus is now looking for a second term in which to engineer a recovery for Alcatel-Lucent. He became chairman in 2008 and subsequently chose Verwaayen to run the company.

Clues about potential CEO candidates are thin for what is a demanding job. Camus and his colleagues on the Alcatel-Lucent board are looking for “a European or American with a background in industry”, said the report.

The company has appointed Russell Reynolds Associates, a headhunter firm, to lead the search. Last week, the company confirmed it would consider both internal and external candidates.