Long-time Leo Burnett creative Steve Persico departed from the agency and his post as CCO on Nov. 4, strategy learned Friday afternoon.

In his place, on Nov. 11, Angus Tucker joined as the interim CCO while the shop looks for a replacement. “Our commitment is to take the necessary time to find a leader who will be a great partner for our employees, and clients,” shared Ben Tarr, president of Leo Burnett.

“We are grateful for Steve Persico’s contributions to Leo Burnett, and we wish him every success in his future endeavours. As we move forward, we are actively seeking new creative leadership to join our team,” said Tarr, adding in a call to strategy that the team will be “scouring the globe to find the best possible talent” with the goal of placing a new CCO in February/March of next year.

Persico joined Leo Burnett in 2006, almost 19 years ago. He began his career at the agency as an intern copywriter, working his way up to the co-CCO role which he held alongside Lisa Greenberg for the last three years. In that role, he helped lead a team of more than 50 creatives for Leo’s North American client roster. His promotion to the CCO role came shortly after the departures of SVP, CD Anthony Chelvanathan and group CD Manas Abrol, who left the agency for Edelman.

Over nearly two decades at the agency, Persico led the creative direction for award-winning campaigns for brands IKEA, James Ready, P&G, Bell, Enbridge, Kellogg’s, Molson Coors, Raising the Roof and others. He has also been ranked the number one copywriter in strategy’s Creative Report Card numerous times, and was also a member of Leo Burnett’s Global Product Committee.