NEW YORK: Porter Novelli has hired Ketchum’s Julie Schumacher Ciardiello as MD of its New York office, effective November 28.
Schumacher Ciardiello will report to Jennifer Swint, Porter’s North American president and partner. She will succeed Erin Osher, who served as interim New York MD before relocating to the agency’s Seattle office, where she is MD.
Schumacher Ciardiello will lead teams across the firm’s practice areas, including consumer, technology, health and wellness, food, and corporate communications.
She had an earlier stint as a VP at Porter Novelli, where she managed the $2.5 million Kellogg account, from early 1998 to late 1999, according to her LinkedIn profile.
"I had a great experience at Porter earlier in my career," she said. "This is an exciting time to rejoin the company and the role is the perfect match for my food and nutrition and health and wellness background."
Schumacher Ciardiello has worked at Porter’s sister agency under Omnicom Group, Ketchum, for the past 10 years. She joined Ketchum in 2007 as a leader in the New York consumer brand practice and later took over the office’s food and wellness group, becoming co-director of the North American food and beverage practice in 2014. Schumacher Ciardiello was named a Ketchum partner in 2013 and was most recently focused on business development and client engagement in the firm’s healthcare unit.
Her last day at Ketchum will be November 11; the firm has not yet named her replacement. Schumacher Ciardiello has also worked as SVP and food and nutrition practice leader at Marina Maher Communications and SVP and GM at Vorhaus & Company.
Last month, Porter also hired Peter DiBart as creative director and Bruce Ginsberg as SVP of business development.
Omnicom pulled together the PR firms in its DAS division in February into the Omnicom PR Group, putting former Porter CEO Karen van Bergen in charge of the unit. It encompasses 10 PR agency brands, including FleishmanHillard, Ketchum, Porter Novelli, Marina Maher Communications, Portland, Cone, and Mercury.
