Citizen Relations has expanded its leadership team with the appointment of Josh Budd as its first chief creative officer.

Budd was most recently CCO at No Fixed Address, which he joined in 2018, with previous experience in senior creative roles at J. Walter Thomspon and Leo Burnett.

At Citizen Relations, Budd will oversee the development of the agency’s creative product in both Canada and the U.S. (Citizen has offices in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Quebec City, New York, Irvine and Los Angeles). His appointment is part of the agency’s transformation under its mission to “make every conversation count,” according to Nick Cowling, global president at Citizen.

“As we transform how we operate and bring our mission to life, we recognized the creative product and content is critical in the design of conversations,” Cowling says.

Budd will work with the agency’s existing creative team, which previously reported to Toronto GM Jenn Duggan and currently consists of two ACDs, two art directors, a copywriter and a senior designer, along with freelance support. A key part of Budd’s work in the new role will be to increase the consistency and the quality of Citizen’s creative product.

“We’re focused on developing a creative organization, not an organization with a creative department,” says Cowling. “We’re looking to harness the inherent creativity that already exists within the team and add skill-set specific bench strength when and where we need it.”