With the hiring of Scott Goodson, its third executive creative director since the start of the year, Toronto ad agency J. Walter Thompson is hoping to jam the revolving door in its creative department.

Goodson takes over Feb. 17 from Shelley Ambrose, who left the agency earlier this month following the departure of Derek Chapman at the beginning of January. Ambrose, who barely had time to get her feet wet in the agency’s top creative post, had been promoted from within.

Both she and Chapman had been with jwt for nearly 12 years.

Goodson, a 33-year-old Canadian, has spent the last eight years at Welinder Advertising in Sweden. He joined the agency in 1989 and became 50% owner in 1993.

While there, he worked on the Moosehead Breweries European launch, Pharmacia’s global ‘To Life’ campaign and advertising for mobile phone giant Ericsson.

Ted Nation, chief executive officer at jwt, says the agency looked in the u.s. and Europe for a new creative director and is optimistic Goodson is going to make a big contribution.

He says his goal is to revive jwt creatively, and adds the agency’s u.s.-based parent company has given him ‘the bottom-line relief to hire someone of Goodson’s calibre.’

Nation says some international agencies might have purchased a hot-shop boutique to revitalize a flagging network shop, but jwt has a policy of rebuilding rather than acquisition.

jwt has also brought John Hall back to the agency as director of new business, a post that has been vacant for a few years.

Hall was previously account supervisor on Pepsi, but most recently has been running his own consulting firm.