Omnicom Media Group agency OMD USA has named Suhaila Hobba chief media officer. Hobba joins OMD from Amazon where she was global head of digital and is credited with building Amazon’s in-house media capabilities. 

The move comes less than a week after Amazon confirmed that it has launched a global media agency review, putting an estimated $5 billion in media expenditures (per COMvergence) up for grabs.   

The role was previously held by George Manas, who was upped to global CEO of OMD two years ago.  

According to the agency Hobba will “define the vision, design the practices, and drive interdisciplinary collaboration for the agency’s holistic media investment offer.”  

Hobba is the first senior outside hire made by OMD US CEO Chrissie Hanson in her 15 months in the job.  

 “With her two decade record as a transformation agent – most recently for a company that’s driving the performance revolution – Suhaila has the experience and expertise to bring together all OMD capabilities, products and services, and pull through the performance thread to deliver business growth for our clients,” stated Hanson.  

The appointment marks a return to the agency world for Hobba, who spent more than two decades in digital strategy roles across holding company media shops – including OMD, Initiative and Mediavest. Prior to leading Amazon’s in-house agency for digital planning and activation, she spent eight years overseeing global agency partnerships at Yahoo! Among other duties there, she oversaw the media company’s relationship with Interpublic.  

“As Chief Media Officer, my priority will be ensuring that OMD is unlocking Omnicom Media Group’s “Agency as a Platform” capabilities to connect media, content, and commerce, and leveraging Omnicom’s Omni open operating system to orchestrate holistic media solutions,” stated Hobba.  

Her appointment is effective immediately and follows new business wins this year that include AOR assignments for Vans, Under Armour and others.