JWT starts hunt to fill China MD and CD jobs

Lim, who joined the agency in Hong Kong in 2002 from Euro RSCG, will leave the office next month after a 20-month stint. Jan, meanwhile, spent 15 months with JWT Shanghai and plans to return to Taiwan, where she spent nine years at Leo Burnett, most recently as MD (the agency's first local MD at the time). "We have a few candidates under consideration," said JWT Northeast Asia director, Tom Doctoroff, adding that an external search, not limited to Greater China, was underway to fill Jan's post, while the group CD job was likely to be filled by a China talent. Lim's exit comes just weeks after JWT Shanghai snapped up more than one-third of the trophies at the 2005 Hong Kong 4As awards, including the coveted Kam Fan for its work on Nike. The win, however, came on the heels of JWT losing the account to Wieden & Kennedy. "Every job I have is for no more than two years so it's time to take a break and move on," said Lim. "The wins at Hong Kong 4As means I will take that the task here is complete." Lim added he was seeking a purely creative post in Southeast Asia. Doctoroff, who has currently taken up MD duties in Shanghai, noted: "Nick was put in a test as to whether he should be a leader or just creative. It was a chance to see whether or not he wanted to manage a department... We are now looking for someone who has the balance of realism, clients and passion to push for breakthrough." Meanwhile, the Taipei office, which earlier dismissed general manager PJ Wang, has named former Ogilvy & Mather senior executive Mark Bainbridge as MD to replace Steve Lin, who has been named chairman. Wang was fired last year after it was discovered that he had set up his own agency and was planning to poach staff and clients (Media, September 9, 2005). "Originally, I was trying to grow the local GM (Wang) to MD level but this was not possible and I had to let him go," said Lin. "Mark will bridge the post between the ex-GM's role and take up all responsibility as office manager. He was chosen for his multinational experience as most of our clients here are through global or regional alignments such as HSBC, Mazda and DTC." Bainbridge's last agency stint was with Ogilvy & Mather in China, where he was group managing director before returning to Scotland a year-and-a-half ago.