EssenceMediacom has appointed Sarah James as its new Chief Investment Officer, leading the GroupM media agency's Media Solutions and Investment across Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane.

James joins the agency from Initiative, where she spent the last five years as Managing Director for Melbourne, and has previously led a 60-person team at the Woolworths agency, part of Dentsu. Following James' exit, Initiative has promoted Megan Davey into a newly created role as Head of Melbourne.

James will commence her new role in October, replacing Nick Thomas, who exited the agency in April to take up a new role as national head of sales ANZ for Amazon Ads. She will work closely with GroupM Chief Investment Officer Melissa Hey to oversee a client portfolio close to $1bn in client media spend.

"Sarah is an exceptional talent in media. She brings a unique and dynamic skillset to the role in EssenceMediacom, that goes beyond what you might expect from a traditional chief investment officer. I’m excited for her to join our team," said Hey.

James will be responsible for defining and executing EssenceMediacom's Breakthrough investment and implementational planning strategies for clients. She will also foster strong media partner relationships and drive innovation across all media channels.

"We are thrilled to welcome Sarah to the family. Sarah’s background speaks for itself. She’s a dynamic, people-first leader, who gets the digital, tech and data space and I have no doubt she’ll lead our Media Solutions and Investment team with vision, passion and care. Transformation excites her and her strong digital background makes her phenomenally well placed to lead, helping our clients breakthrough in the digital age. Sarah's deep understanding of the evolving media landscape, coupled with her proven leadership skills, make her the ideal candidate to lead our investment team into the future," said CEO of EssenceMediacom Australia, Pippa Berlocher.

EssenceMediacom was created at the start of 2023 via the merger of GroupM media agencies Essence and Mediacom. The agency's global presence sits at 10,000 people across 120 offices in 96 markets, with billings of more than US$21 billion.

"I'm absolutely thrilled to be joining EssenceMediacom. The opportunities within media investment have never been greater, with innovation, precision media and emerging tech allowing us to deliver truly exceptional value for clients. I'm incredibly excited to work alongside Pippa and the entire team, leveraging their expertise and our collective passion to drive impactful results. I can’t wait to get started," said James.