NEW YORK — Former Wells Fargo communications leader Oscar Suris, who left the bank last year amid its fake accounts crisis, has joined Zeno to help grow the agency’s work with C-suite execs on issues around reputation and managing crises.

Suris, who will be based in his hometown of Charlotte, NC, formally joins as executive managing director, C-suite strategy & crisis. In the newly created position, Suri will work hands-on with corporate clients, while also pushing to expand the agency’s corporate advisory and crisis communications practice and capabilities.

“What excites me most about Oscar joining Zeno is the diversity of thought and perspective he will bring from day one,” said CEO Barby Siegel, to whom Suris reports. “Oscar’s years on the client side at Fortune 100 companies, working side by side with senior leadership, both building and protecting corporate reputations, give him a set of unrivalled experiences that will inform our work in new and compelling ways.”

Suris’ hiring comes as Zeno experiences a lift in its global corporate business, which grew more than 40% in the last year, according to the agency.

It also comes roughly eight months after Suris’ August exit from Wells Fargo, where he had spent nine years as executive VP and head of corporate communications. His departure was one of a string of changes in the bank’s PR operation as it tried to rebuild public trust after news emerged that employees had created millions of unauthorized bank and credit card accounts in order to reach sales goals.