Havas Media ANZ has appointed Kate O’Ryan-Roeder chief executive officer.
O’Ryan-Roeder joins the agency after a decade at Mindshare ANZ, where she served as chief client officer, and most recently managing director, Sydney.
She replaces Virginia Hyland at Havas Media.
"I am absolutely thrilled to be joining the Havas team come January,” said Kate O’Ryan-Roeder.
“What truly inspired and resonated with me was the sense of shared values and purpose and I'm excited by the unique Village approach – it's a powerful way to deliver exceptional results for clients and cultivate a truly collaborative and supportive environment for our people.
“The vision for ANZ that James and Havas has in the next years’ is bold and transformative, and something I wanted to be a big part of.”
During her tenure, she led a team of nearly 150, oversaw a bespoke agency for LVMH, and helped secure major new business including the recent win of MG.
She spent eight years at Mindshare Worldwide in London, which included leading the HSBC and Volvo accounts globally as well as leading global planning for Unilever, alongside earlier roles at Gyro International and Mitchell Media.
As CEO of Havas Media ANZ O’Ryan-Roeder will be responsible for leading the agency’s national operations in ANZ, with a firm focus on further growth and investment in the region for media, enhancing AI, tech and data capabilities, while fostering deep integrations across the broader Havas Village, which brings together creative, media, PR and publicity, public affairs and health.
She will report to Havas ANZ group CEO James Wright.
“We were very humbled by the huge interest we had in the Havas Media CEO role and got to meet some incredibly talented candidates,” said Wright.
“Kate stood out from the get-go with a wonderful blend of smarts, savviness and strong client and people skills.
“We are about to embark on a very exciting period of investment and transformation at Havas ANZ that will further showcase our difference in the market and Kate leading the Havas Media Network is going to be a huge driver of this.
“I look forward to working with her and the leadership group to fulfill our ambitious plans.”
O’Ryan-Roeder will begin at Havas in January 2026, and her appointment follows a period of recent growth for the agency, including new business wins such as Tangerine and More, Perfetti Van Melle, as well as Emirates globally.
Last year Havas acquired Melbourne based Hotglue that has become part of Havas Media Melbourne.
Havas also recently opened its new Melbourne Village with 90+ staff, complementing the established Sydney Village which is home to more than 300 specialists across nine agencies, with additional offices and staffers located in Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra, Hobart, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand.
Havas ANZ agencies include Havas Host, Havas Media, Havas Red, Havas New Zealand, Havas Blvd, Havas PLAY, CSA, H/Advisors APA, One Green Bean, Organic Publicity, Frontier, Bastion Brands part of Havas Health & You and Pulse.
“We are delighted to have someone of the quality and strengths of Kate join the Havas family,” said Global CEO of Havas Media, Peter Mears.
“Australia and New Zealand are important markets for us, and we have big plans to further scale and strengthen our offerings in the coming months and years.
“With Kate’s strong track record of managing teams that grow and succeed we are looking forward to her working with James and the leadership to take us to new levels.”
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