DDB Sydney has announced that James Quinlan will leave the agency to be replaced by Karalee Evans as head of its social media unit.

Quinlan will depart for New York as Evans joins the Sydney office after building the social and digital offering at Text 100.

She has previously held roles as social strategy manager at Amnesia as well as director of communications for Headspace, the National Youth Mental Health Foundation.

Leif Stromnes, managing director for strategy and innovation at DDB Sydney, commented: “We will miss James’ passion and thought leadership in the building but we wish him all the best as he follows his heart to the Big Apple."

On Evans appointment, Stromnes added: “It was Karalee’s keen interest in the evolution of communications, sociology and consumers relationships with converging digital platforms that made her a perfect fit for this role.

“DDB has built a bespoke social team that uses multi channel platforms to track social stats in real-time helping clients radically improve customer service and predict consumer sentiment, with the ultimate goal of increasing their productivity.