Cundari has bolstered its creative team with five new hires, but is still seeking a chief creative officer.
The additions are a direct response to new account wins, which the agency is keeping mum on for now, said Jenn Steinmann, executive vice-president, managing director at Cundari.
“Over the past couple of months we’ve just kind of kept our head down, and we’ve won three new pieces of business, two of which are quite significant,” Steinmann said.
Jonathan Smith (pictured above) has been hired as group creative director and will oversee creative strategy and direction on a number of accounts. Smith joins the shop from Y&R Canada, where he served as creative director for two years. Prior to that, he worked at TBWA\Toronto and Sid Lee Montreal.
Art director Jake Bundock has come aboard from DDB Canada where he held the same role. Bundock will work in partnership with copywriter Ryan Kukec, who joins the agency from Grip Limited.
Cundari has also hired Francis Portugal as a digital designer, along with art director Matthew Morris.
Steinmann said the shop is taking its time and doing “due diligence” with regards to finding a replacement for former chief creative officer Andrew Simon, who left to join Edelman Canada last month.
“We’re in a great place because there’s lots of interest,” Steinmann said of the COO position. “It’s quite a coveted role to come into an agency that’s seen the kind of growth that we’ve had, and the success that we’ve had. It’s one of the very few remaining independent agencies [and] we’ve had some big names interested.”
Earlier this month, Cundari appointed Angie Kramer to the newly-created role of vice-president, digital and innovation, and in March strengthened its accounts team with a number of key hires and promotions.
