Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) has appointed Karen Halligan to the newly created role of national commercial and operations director.

Karen joins SCA with more than 20 years’ experience in media and marketing spanning both agency and client side.

Halligan was most recently head of implementation and investment for Bohemia and prior to this was general manger, Slingshot Media, and has worked at Medicom, Universal McCann and Coca- Cola.

Andrea Ingham, national sales director, SCA said: “Karen’s experience working with clients from a media agency and marketing perspective will add an extra dimension to the way we approach the market and clients. We are thrilled to add someone of Karen’s caliber to the management team and very much look forward to her contribution into our strategy and direction moving forward.”

Halligan said: “I am truly excited to join Southern Cross Austereo, one of Australia’s most progressive and far reaching national media organisations. The opportunity to work across SCA’s broad range of TV, Radio, talent and digital assets does not come along very often and was too good to pass up. Taking the role of national commercial and operations director means that I can really leverage the leadership experience I have gained through previous client and agency roles and close the loop on the last frontier of media owner, I can’t wait to get started.”

Halligan will be based in Sydney and commence the role on Monday 24 November.