MUMBAI: Justin Billingsley has been promoted to the role of worldwide chief operating officer (COO) for the network.

Billingsley is presently CEO of Dynamic Markets at Saatchi & Saatchi, having joined the company in 2009. Based in London, he commences his role immediately.

All of Saatchi & Saatchi’s offices across the world will report to Billingsley, who will focus on leading the network’s growth and performance across markets, and on transforming the capabilities of the business to meet the future needs of clients. He will continue to lead the agency’s worldwide M&A activity and continues on the executive board and global leadership team of Saatchi & Saatchi.

Saatchi & Saatchi CEO worldwide Robert Senior said, “Justin is a proven transformational leader for us, first in China, then in EMEA and in his new role, will focus on improvement in our performance globally. Justin and I have a great working partnership. It is as simple as this: we both stand in the doorway of the Saatchi & Saatchi network. From there I tend to look outwards, and Justin tends to look inwards. We need to do both in order to lift our game and achieve our purpose.”

Billingsley added, “This role represents an inspirational challenge to wake up to each day: If we are promising our clients and our people that ‘Nothing is Impossible’ then what kind of agency does it take to deliver this today and what will be needed tomorrow? We are defining what this means and transforming accordingly, combining new skills with a hunger for creative excellence and world-changing ideas. And it’s fun, making Saatchi & Saatchi more Saatchi & Saatchi.”

His appointment follows a series of additions to the global leadership team at Saatchi & Saatchi, including David Hackworthy as chief strategy officer, and Jeff Geisler as chief marketing officer.

Prior to being named CEO of Dynamic Markets in January 2015, Billingsley was the COO of the EMEA region for Saatchi & Saatchi. He joined the agency in 2009 as CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi Greater China, and before that held various senior marketing leadership roles at companies including Unilever, Nokia, Orange, and The Coca-Cola Company.

Previous COO Chris Foster has moved to a new role in Publicis Groupe as SVP - global clients.