NEW YORK — Edelman has rehired Lisa Sepulveda as president of global client relationship management (GCRM), setting off a reshuffle among the firm’s management team.

Julianna Richter has held the lead GCRM role since 2011, reporting directly to Richard Edelman. As of 25 March, she becomes chief operating officer for Edelman US, although the role only includes profit and loss (P&L) responsibility for Edelman’s West Coast, Southeast and Southwest regions.

In her new position, Richter reports to Edelman US president/CEO Mark Hass, taking charge of operations that total fee income of around $115 million, with 70 percent coming from the firm’s West Coast offices. 

Curt Kundred, president of Edelman’s Western region, previously managed the West Coast P&L and will now report to Richter. Richard Edelman told the Holmes Report that Richter’s shift signals an increased focus on healthcare, marketing services and B2B PR in these regions.   

Sepulveda, who was poached from Weber Shandwick, takes on the GCRM role after spending 25 years in consumer marketing in North America. She is now charged with making sure Edelman’s 17 GCRM clients - that together account for more than 30 percent of the firm’s global revenues - are effectively serviced by the firm’s regional offices.

These clients include Microsoft, GE, eBay and HP. Most are US-based companies seeking to boost international expansion, so Sepulveda is also tasked with bolstering the program in new geographies, including emerging markets. 

Historically, the challenge for GCRMs has been to ensure quality control and effectively expand multi-market revenues. Accordingly, Sepulveda will track quality across regions via Edelman’s “Q score” metric, by which clients rate their service quality in each region from 1 to 10.  

She previously worked at Edelman from 1987 to 2006.