NEW YORK — Edelman exec Ben Boyd is leaving the agency after 14 years to join BCW as the firm’s first global chief strategy and operations officer.

In the newly-created role, Boyd will be partnering with Global CEO Donna Imperato in managing all aspects of BCW as it pushes for growth, including honing strategy, operations and client development.

Boyd, who leaves his role as Edelman’s chief client strategy officer at the end of this week and takes up the BCW post in New York on September 3, will also be responsible for managing critical client relationships, increasing new business and advising on intellectual property development.

Imperato said: “I have high ambitions for BCW and I am always looking for excellent talent to achieve our goals and vision. What Ben can bring to the table is really helping us get to where we want even more quickly."

She praised Boyd for being “intellectual,” “very versatile,” and “operationally savvy,” while also noting that he’s equipped to “take some stuff off my plate and handle this very well.”

An Edelman spokesperson confirmed Boyd’s departure, saying: “We are grateful for his contributions to the firm and our clients. We wish him well in his next endeavor."

Global chief client officer Lisa Sepulveda, who co-led Edelman’s global client relationship program with Boyd, will continue to run it.

The move to BCW caps Boyd’s lengthy career with Edelman, which he joined in 2006 as the firm’s practices andsectors president. He stayed in that role for nearly 12 years before being named chief client strategy officer in April 2018.

The position included overseeing the agency’s client experience program, counseling C-suite executives and partnering with the firm’s top clients, as well as leading Edelman’s signature studies, including the Trust Barometer.

Boyd said the move was prompted by the opportunity to be in the thick of taking BCW, the world’s third largest PR firm, to the next level in terms of growth and client service.

“For me, the opportunity this stage in my career to join this team was just something that I couldn’t have imagined,” Boyd said. Building out a truly integrated communications agency, with expertise in handling both clients and talent, is the overarching goal, he said. “There’s a palatable vision to deliver.”

For Edelman, Boyd’s exit is the latest in a string of departures of senior executives. In the last year or so digital head Kevin King, US COO Julianna Richter, global brand practice chair Mark Renshaw, creative and content North American head John Clinton and US digital leader Jessica Clifton have all left the agency, which last year experienced its first revenue decline since the global financial crisis.