Toronto agency Republic has hired former KBS Toronto group account director Joline Matika as its new vice president.

Reporting to president Kathy Murphy, Matika has been brought on to wield “Swiss Army knife”-like skills to help grow the 12-person shop, according to Murphy.

Prior to her time at KBS, Matika held various account roles at Toronto agencies Capital C and The Hive.

In a way, Matika fills the role vacated by VP of strategy Chris Hopper, who left in February and sat on the agency’s leadership team (Hopper is now managing partner at Upstream Content Creation).

However, when Hopper left, Murphy said she used the opportunity to re-examine the agency’s needs. “We’re a small agency that’s constantly evolving,” she told strategy. Republic bills itself as a purpose-led business that builds own-able narratives for community-building clients.

While Matika was brought on for her ability to “deliver on the PESO” model (paid, earned, shared and ownable media) and forge stronger client relationships, her role is more generalist than Hopper’s in order to evolve to the business’s demands.

The agency counts Muskoka Brewery, Canadian Tire and Starbucks among its clients.