DDB Worldwide, one of the world’s largest and most influential advertising and marketing networks, announced two key promotions. Alex Hesz has been promoted to Global Chief Strategy Officer and Roisin Rooney has been promoted to Global Chief People Officer.
Most recently, Rooney held the position of regional Chief People Officer, also for the EMEA region. Hesz led strategy for the DDB’s Europe, Middle East & Africa and was head of strategy for the highly awarded adam&eve agency.
“I am thrilled to elevate our current leaders from within the network into these roles,” said Worldwide CEO Marty O’Halloran. “Things are changing rapidly, and we’re moving at pace to stay ahead. Alex brings an incredible track record from adam&eveDDB, an agency known for its legendary work and clients. Ro’s experience in EMEA with growing the network, fostering our talent, and creating culture will ensure we are helping our people through this challenging time and into the future.”
In her new role, Rooney will lead recruitment, retention, leadership development and training and initiatives to ensure DDB talent is continuously advancing to stay ahead of client needs. She will nurture and bring to life an exceptional company culture that is embodied by the values, beliefs and behaviors of the DDB name. By building strong relationships across geographies and cultures, Rooney will deliver solutions and results to create meaningful change throughout the network.
A founding member of DDB University, now known as the People Performance Group, Rooney brings a strong background in learning solutions to accompany her fluency in DDB’s people and culture. She previously sat as chairperson of the International Agencies’ Council of EACA, the European Association of Communication Agencies from 2016 to 2019. She was also a member of Omnicom Group’s EDU Advisory Board, a team of practitioners charged with creating best in class global training and development solutions for the 1,200 companies and 65,000 employees of Omnicom Group.
Prior to his role across EMEA, Hesz was the Group Chief Strategy Officer at adam&eveDDB. He will continue to serve as adam&eveDDB’s Group CSO for operations in both New York and London. In his global role, Hesz will oversee the entirety of DDB’s global offerings and has work to harness the collective power of the global network.
Hesz has led strategic offerings across multiple offices and handles accounts such as Lloyds Banking Group, BlackRock, Booking.com, Virgin Media, Beam Suntory, Mars and Unilever. He is a trustee of Versus Arthritis (formerly Arthritis Research UK), one of the UK’s largest medical charities.
Founded in 1949, DDB is part of the Omnicom Group and consists of more than 200 offices in over 90 countries with its flagship office in New York, NY. The Gunn Report has listed DDB as one of the Top 3 Global Networks for 12 of the last 15 years. The agency’s clients include Volkswagen, McDonald’s, Unilever, Mars, Johnson & Johnson, and the U.S. Army, among others.
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