David Leonard has been promoted to president and chief operating officer (COO) of DDB Canada.

Previously president of DDB Canada’s Toronto office, Leonard will continue to manage that office and oversee management of the Vancouver and Edmonton operations as well. He will also work closely with DDB Canada chair Frank Palmer to develop new business and help steer the agency’s overall business strategy.

‘DDB Canada is an amazingly creative agency that’s continuing to achieve some remarkable milestones,’ Leonard says in a release. ‘My new role is to ensure our Canadian operations continue to deliver the best marketing solutions possible to our clients. I’ll be providing a renewed focus and direction to keep our operations nimble and future-ready, and advance DDB’s leadership position in the industry.’

Leonard joined Palmer Jarvis in 1994 and worked his way up to SVP group account director over the next seven years, through the independent agency’s merger with DDB Worldwide in 1999. He left in 2001 to become president and CEO of Arnold Worldwide in Toronto, returning to DDB to run the Toronto office four years later.