SINGAPORE — Hill+Knowlton Strategies global vice chairman and Asia-Pacific chairman Vivian Lines is to leave at the end of July after 35 years with the firm, as restructuring in the region continues.

Lines' decision follows the recent shift of H+K’s Korea CEO and president HS Chung to lead a new Asia cluster, reporting to global presidents Lars-Erik Grønntun and Richard Millar, alongside QC Liang who was appointed CEO of the Greater China markets, also reporting to the same global president duo. Singapore/Malaysia MD Michelle Tham left the firm this spring.

Lines was a recipient of the Holmes Report’s Individual Achievement Award at the 2018 Asia-Pacific Sabre Awards and has provided senior agency leadership and client advisory roles across APAC as well as the Middle East and London, where he started his career at H+K in 1984.

He said: “Over the years, I have helped shape the reputation of companies and organisations across the multiple markets of APAC in an ever-evolving communication landscape. Now I can take those experiences and define the next chapter in my career. I will always be thankful for the opportunities I have had at H+K and will particularly miss the very talented people I have worked with.”

Global chairman and CEO AnnaMaria DeSalva said: “Throughout his tenure at H+K, Viv has been an important senior advisor to leading clients and a key leader of the firm, managing different offices and regions. He has been a good friend, colleague and mentor to many over the years. We are immensely grateful for all he has done and wish him success in his future professional endeavors.”

Lines’ exit is the latest move in an ongoing period of “accelerated transformation” since H+K announced the new global leadership in October, including the elevation of Grønntun and Millar to their current roles, and the appointment of DeSalva.

Grønntun said: “As we continue to innovate H+K, we wanted to create an organizational model that makes us more effective, agile and aligned in how we operate, giving us more proximity to each market, our talent more connection to each other, and our clients the ability to tap the talent they need regardless of location. As a result, we have moved away from the previous ‘super- regions’ into a 5+5 combination of direct reporting markets and clusters.”