FCB Montreal has made two additions to its leadership team, hiring Étienne Bessette as head of creative and Marie-Nathalie Poirier as director of strategy.

Bessette was most recently a senior creative at Sid Lee and has previously been an art director on the teams at Havas, BBDO and Marketel.

Poirier was most recently director of strategy at DDB’s Montreal office. She has previously held senior digital-focused strategy roles at McCann, Nurun and client-side at Telus.

In a press release, Samia Chebeir – who was named president of FCB Montreal earlier this year – said the new hires are part of ongoing growth and a transformation plan at the agency.

The director of strategy position at FCB Montreal has been vacant for nearly a year, since strategic planning director Isabelle Ramet left the agency for a role at National Bank. The creative lead role at the agency has been vacant since the summer following the departure of Gilles DuSablon.

Elsewhere at FCB, the agency has added new creative directors to its ranks in Toronto this year, while also picking up new business with BMW and Fountain Tire.