Imagination, the award-winning Global Experience Design Company, has announced Philomena Gray’s appointment as Chief People Officer, leading talent and HR strategy across the Imagination group, reporting to CEO, Patrick Reid.

Gray joins Imagination from Photobox, where she was Human Resources Director of International Operations, across the UK, France, Germany and Spain. Her wealth of experience leading HR in advertising and media companies includes Chief People and Talent Officer at Publicis Communications UK, with responsibility for 1,500 people across brands such as Saatchi & Saatchi, Leo Burnett, MSL & Fallon. She also spent time at Live Nation as HR Director for Europe.

In this role, Philomena will work across Imagination’s 14 global offices, focusing on developing talent, recruitment and retention, and building on the existing DE&I strategy to support the continuing growth of the business.

Commenting on her appointment, Philomena Gray said “I’m thrilled to be joining such an innovative and forward-thinking business that leads the world in experience design. It’s an important and exciting time in terms of talent investment and development and, I look forward to working with Patrick and the wider global team to build on Imagination’s HR strategy and to empower every employee to develop, grow and thrive.”

Patrick Reid, CEO at Imagination, added: “It’s a pivotal moment for Imagination as we drive the next phase of growth. Philomena brings to us a great wealth of experience and knowledge from her diverse and varied career. We look forward to harnessing her unique skill set to help nurture and build our company culture of Independent Creativity, growing and supporting the company’s talent to ensure we continue to deliver world-class experiences for our clients”

Philomena’s appointment is the latest in a series of new strategic hires, including the recent hire of Tom Gray as Chief Strategy Officer and the promotion of Richard Hannah to UK MD, as Imagination continues to focus on driving growth in its core offers – Consulting, Destinations, Content and Live. It also follows Imagination’s recent win as Brand Experience Agency EMEA at Campaign’s Agency of the Year Awards and Creativepool’s People’s Choice Independent Agency of the Year.