Joseph Peters has been named president of Toronto’s GCI Group.

He replaces Marion MacKenzie, who is leaving the agency for other opportunities after 12 years at its helm.

Previously, Peters served as CSO and CMO at Hill + Knowlton, which also owns GCI. Peters joined Hill + Knowlton in 2012 following its acquisition of public engagement firm Ascentum, where Peters was a founder and partner.

In a statement, GCI said Peters was selected for having demonstrated “smart strategy and execution excellence” during his time at Hill + Knowlton, where he helped launch new practices, services and tools.

In June last year, GCI hired Saeed Zaman as SVP of digital, analytics and business strategy to lead strategies and executions across digital, social, search, analytics and traditional media.