• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, March 1, 2012

Richard Beaven, once seen as the logical choice to run Interpublic’s Mediabrands operations, is out as Worldwide CEO of its Initiative unit. The company said he decided to step down to “pursue creative and business opportunities in documentary photography.” Jim Hytner, who has been head of sister network UM’s “G-14” operations, was named to succeed him as Worldwide CEO of Initiative.

Beaven who is an avid photographer, has been developing it as an avocation for a number of years, joined Initiative after years at Publicis, and once was seen as the logical heir to succeed Nick Brien when he left Mediabrands, a unit he created inside Interpublic, to run McCann Worldgroup. But that role went to UM chief Matt Seiler, who has aggressively been reorganizing all of Mediabrands operations over the past couple of years.

“We all know Richard Beaven is a terrific leader and media practitioner,” Seiler said in a statement released this morning. “Recently, he shared with us his desire to step away from advertising to pursue his life-long love of photography on a full-time basis. While we will be very sorry to see him go, we support his decision and appreciate the consideration he has given us so we can secure a seamless management transition.”

As part of the reorganization, Initiative North America CEO Tim Spengler becomes Global CEO of Mediabrands’ Magna Global unit, an organization that has had repeated management turnover since it was created.

Mediabrands said an announcement on Spengler’s successor would be made “in due course.”

Hytner’s role at UM will be filled by Guy Beach, a long-time IPG Mediabrands executive who was COO of UM globally and was previously COO of J3, IPG Mediabrands’ dedicated media services unit for Johnson & Johnson.