Ambitious We Are Social makes three top hires

Go-go social media agency We Are Social has been in the market for new top staff, hiring Lucy Doubleday from Dare as operations director, Matt Payne from JWT as head of technology and Nick Hearne (centre) from U-Dox as a senior creative.All three will work in its London HQ.

Doubleday was business director at Dare for three years, following four years at JWT in the same position. In her three years at Dare, she ran the accounts for Sony UK, Football Association and Reebok. At JWT she ran the global digital accounts for Rimmel and Tourism Ireland, as well as overseeing activity for Deloitte UK.

Matt Payne joins in the new role of head of creative technology, leading a team of eight. Payne spent two years at JWT as head of technology, responsible for delivery of all digital projects across the agency, with clients including Shell, HSBC, Nestle and Johnson & Johnson.

Nick Hearne has joined as senior creative. Before U-Dox he was an art director at Blue Hive and Wunderman and a designer at Cannes Lions.

We Are Social managing director Jim Coleman says: “We Are Social has grown quickly since inception, and this year is no different as we transition from a smaller agency to a large, more established one.

“Lucy’s appointment is a direct reflection of this change. She’ll be instrumental in helping the London office run smoothly, working closely with me and other members of the senior team, bringing a wealth of agency-side managerial experience.”

WAS describes itself as a ‘conversation’ agency, as you do. It was founded in 2008 and now has offices in New York, London, Paris, Milan, Munich, Singapore, Sydney and Sao Paulo with nearly 400 staff. Clients include Adidas, Heinz, Unilever, Heineken, Ebay and Jaguar.