Publicis-owned media agency Spark Foundry has announced the promotion of Lauren Small to the newly created role of Sydney general manager.

Small (pictured above, right) previously worked as client service director at Spark, a position she held for two years, and prior to that was group business director at the agency.

She has 12 years’ experience working in the media industry, beginning her career with Mediavest in the UK before moving to Starcom and Omnicom Media Group.

Small moved to Australia in 2011 to join MediaCom and then Starcom, where she worked in senior client service positions for four years.

In her new role, Small will be responsible for leading Spark’s clients, staff and operations.

Spark Foundry Australia CEO Sue Squillace (pictured above, left) said Small was promoted to help nurture and develop talent, as well as manage the agency’s diverse client and agency partnerships.

“I’m proud to say that 70 per cent of our leadership team are women. We’ve worked hard to create a diverse and family-friendly environment that has allowed us to retain great talent and promote more women into senior positions. Lauren is a great example of this.

“Lauren’s extensive strategic planning experience and knowledge of clients, coupled with her managerial talent, will allow us to manage the significant growth our Sydney office has experienced in the last 12 months, as well as ensuring we continue to develop our people who remain at the heart of our business.”

Commenting on her new role, Small said: “It’s an exciting time to help lead Spark Sydney, especially given our brand is still relatively new.

“For me, nurturing and retaining talent will remain my focus, alongside fostering collaborative partnerships that extend outside of the traditional media agency remit, particularly with our creative partners.”