LONDON — David Parkinson, Nissan's digital head for Africa, the Middle East and India, is leaving the company at which he has spent 24 years to launch a new consultancy.

Parkinson, who departs Nissan at the end of the year, has spent the past few years in senior digital and social media roles, overseeing numerous EMEA markets and capabilities, including building the social media operation from the ground up across the region.

He joined Nissan in 1992, starting out on the production line, before moving into IT and then social and digital media. Along the way, Parkinson has been intimately involved with some of the automaker's biggest marketing successes, including the Qashqai Europe launch, and developing a centralised cross-functional social media team for Nissan across three different continents, setting up a global listening platform that has translated into stronger insights for social management.

"Nissan has been an incredibly rewarding place to work," said Parkinson. It is understood that the company will announce his replacement in the coming months.

Parkinson's new consultancy, called Brave & Heart will aim "to deliver end to end world class digital solutions — from strategy to innovation to experiential," he said.

"I will bring that thinking and expertise to brands and agencies alike with the mission of helping the industry deliver more effective work," he said. "World class work. Customer focused work. Solutions that don’t just deliver but that raise the bar and disrupt convention each and every time."