LONDON —Hill+Knowlton Strategies has appointed Tanya Joseph as managing director of specialist services in a newly-created role that brings together Joseph’s expertise from across the private, public and NGO sectors.

Joseph's new role brings together all H+K's specialist teams – which support the agency's industry sector teams in the UK – under one leader for the first time. These include the corporate advisory, public affairs, behavioural science, executive coaching, internal communications, crisis and reputation management teams. Her remit also includes helping clients deliver diversity and inclusion programmes.

As director of business partnerships at Sport England from 2012-2017, Joseph was credited as the architect of the award-winning ‘This Girl Can’ campaign, which in its first year inspired 2.8 million women to get active.

After serving as press secretary to then prime minister Tony Blair from 1999-2003, Joseph was managing director of UK public affairs at Grayling for seven years. She has worked in-house and agency-side for brands including Mars, Fujitsu, Tesco, Lloyds Banking Group, the Department for Work and Pensions and Nationwide.

Joseph said: “I have always looked to H+K as a leader in corporate and reputation management, and as an agency with values that align with my own. So, it’s particularly fitting to re-join agency life at a time when clients need support more than ever to protect their businesses, navigate some really challenging issues sensitively and engage their audiences authentically."

She added: "Bringing together PA, issues and reputation, internal communications, behaviour change, diversity and inclusion – all areas I have deep expertise in and am truly committed too – it feels like this role was designed for me.”

Simon Whitehead, CEO of H+K London, said: “Tanya is a communications powerhouse and I’m thrilled she has joined us at H+K. She brings senior strategic strength and an exceptional breadth and depth of skills. I am excited to see how she provides further dynamism to the great work already underway across our specialist services team.”