BBDO New York chief creative officer Matt MacDonald is leaving the agency, ADWEEK has learned.

A BBDO spokesperson confirmed his departure and said MacDonald had a “great opportunity he couldn’t turn down.” It is not clear what his next move is.

MacDonald took on the role at BBDO NY in April 2022, after being promoted from executive creative director. Prior to that, he was CCO and ECD of the AT&T account.

He was with BBDO for a decade. He spent the prior 10 years at J. Walter Thompson.

During his time at BBDO, MacDonald was most well-known for steering the AT&T account, the agency’s largest in the U.S., and was integral in Omnicom winning the telco’s $2 billion creative and media business in 2016.

He also helped BBDO win major accounts, including Ford in 2018, The Home Depot in 2021, and Meta Reality Labs in 2022, according to his website.

BBDO has not yet found a replacement and is taking time to find the right person, according to the spokesperson. For now, Chris Beresford-Hill, CCO of BBDO Worldwide, is taking the lead on creative out of the New York office, along with the executive creative directors.

A new era of leadership

MacDonald leaves the network amid creative leadership changes at BBDO and parent Omnicom more broadly.

In April, longtime global CCO David Lubars retired after 20 years with the creative network. The agency brought on Beresford-Hill from Ogilvy as his replacement.

In August, BBDO Worldwide CEO Andrew Robertson also announced his transition to Chairman after 20 years leading the network and named Nancy Reyes, CEO of BBDO Americas, as his replacement.

Also in August, BBDO brought in Jiah Choi from Wieden + Kennedy to oversee its New York and Chicago offices as CEO, a new position.

Finally, in September, Omnicom announced the creation of Omnicom Advertising Group, a new unit overseeing its creative agency networks BBDO, TBWA, and DDB, led by former TBWA\Worldwide CEO Troy Ruhanen. Erin Riley, formerly CEO of TBWA LA, was promoted as his successor.