GroupM’s global media agency, Wavemaker, has unveiled an all-female UK leadership team to lead it into a ‘new era’. Kelly Parker has been promoted to Chief Executive Officer, while Katie Lee has been named Chief Operating Officer.
Reporting to EMEA CEO Ruth Stubbs, Parker moves into the role of CEO from her previous position as UK COO, and will be part of the Wavemaker EMEA and GroupM UK executive leadership teams. Prior to Wavemaker, she held roles as Chief Client Officer at OMD EMEA, Client Partner at OMD UK, Head of Planning at Havas Media UK, and Business Director at MPG.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to take on the opportunity of leading Wavemaker into our next chapter,” said Parker. “Working closely with our brilliant leadership team and all 400 of our fabulous Wavemakers, I know we will go beyond expectations, fuelled by our attitude of positive provocation and bringing new market-leading technology and operating models to our current clients, and the market.”
Lee moves up to UK COO from her position as UK Chief Growth Officer. She joined Wavemaker earlier this year after serving as CEO at Clementine. Prior to that, she served as CEO of Lucky Generals, and she has previously held the roles of Managing Director at Sunshine, Managing Director & Partner at Gravity Road, and Managing Director at Leo Burnett London.
“I’m really proud to see two brilliant women taking the lead in our biggest EMEA market,” said Stubbs. “The combined skillsets of Kelly and Katie provide Wavemaker with something that is positively provocative and differentiating. I look forward to seeing the Kelly-Katie duo propel Wavemaker UK into a new era of growth for the agency, our clients and people.”
The internal reshuffle comes as a result of Paul Hutchison stepping down as UK CEO after four years in the role. Hutchison, who has been with Wavemaker for 12 years, is moving to Australia for a role outside of the group. During his time at Wavemaker, he navigated the business through the Maxus/MEC merger, and won the agency several pieces of major business.
