Kate Sheppard.
Independent creative and media agency Enigma has appointed Kate Sheppard managing director of its Sydney office.
The move reunites her with chief strategy officer Dom Hickey after the pair previously led a bespoke agency at DDB for Johnson & Johnson ANZ.
Sheppard brings more than two decades of experience across business management, creative, strategy and media, spanning QSR, FMCG, travel, retail, professional services and government.
She joins from Connecting Plots, where she was managing director, following a 20-year tenure at DDB.
The appointment comes as the agency records new business wins including Australian Pork's media account.
"At a time when many agencies are understandably running scared, I'm doubling down on where I know the greatest value to clients lies: a team of world class strategic and creative business-problem solvers," said Lisa Sutton Gardner, CEO and founder of Enigma.
“And with a mind like a steel trap, fantastic depth and breadth of experience and a laser focus on driving growth for our clients and the agency, Kate is everything I’ve been looking for in a commercial leader of that team.”
Sheppard said this was a role she had been preparing for her whole career.
“Lisa has set me and the team a bold challenge in a tough market - one that calls for the perspective and rigour I honed leading big, complex businesses in network agencies, as well as the adaptability and pace I have wholeheartedly embraced with my recent indie experience,” she said.
“Reuniting with Dom Hickey, someone I deeply respect and have a proven track record with, was a powerful draw, as was (chief creative officer) Simon (Lee) and (chief media officer) Justin’s (Ladmore) commitment to creative and media integration that yields Unignorable Work that drives dial shifting commercial impact.”
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