Sean Finnegan has been appointed to the role of president and chief digital officer for the global media network at Starcom Mediavest Group (SMG), starting Oct. 1. The announcement was made yesterday by SMG CEO Laura Desmond, who was appointed to her job in June.

‘When the chief digital officer role was vacated by Curt Hecht, I was determined to fill the vacancy with an industry leader who could propel our network into the future,’ says Desmond. ‘Sean was a front runner from the onset of my search, and I’m thrilled to make him part of SMG’s global leadership team.’

Finnegan arrives at SMG with 15 years of experience on which to draw. Starting out as a print planner at BBDO New York, Finnegan changed gears to focus on the Internet and new media, then worked at various interactive agencies, including TribalDDB. Most recently, Finnegan was CMO at Vibrant Media, and before that he was CEO of Omnicom Media Group Digital.