Key people moves in the industry.

Video distribution and monetisation specialist Rightster has appointed former ITV online chief, Robin Pembrooke (right), VP of product and solutions. His focus at Rightster will be on scaling product management and UX capabilities in the UK, US and India, as well as pushing the proposition to new and existing customer segments and defining the future product roadmap. Pembrooke previously led the online operations of ITV and Global Radio. At ITV he tripled usage of ITV Player by deploying it to mobile and connected TV platforms, and grew online reach through the relaunch of services such as ITV News. Prior to that he managed the European product operations team at Yahoo, which was responsible for designing and developing Yahoo News, Yahoo Eurosports and Yahoo Answers.

Dating site MySingleFriend.com has hired Kate Devine in the newly-created role of online marketing manager as the brand looks to expand. The site was created by TV presenter Sarah Beeny in 2005 and works on the premise that all profiles are written by friends of the user. Devine will be responsible for lead generation activity, site optimisation and the member journey. She will also look after digital content, social media and strategic partnerships.

Digital and direct marketing agency Wunderman has appointed David Shiel (left) business director for Ford. He joins from Kitcatt Nohr Digitas where he served as group business director. In his new role he will oversee the product, CRM and fleet business working alongside Wunderman’s sister WPP communication agencies on the Ford account.

Design consultancy Fjord has named Shelley Evenson executive director of organisational evolution. She joins from Facebook where she oversaw research for user experience and design. At Fjord she will be responsible for creating a flexible learning organisation, growing talent and building knowledge-sharing practices across the company. Evenson is the co-founder of the international Service Design Network and was previously a principal in user experience design at Microsoft.

RAPP has hired Jason Andrews as executive creative director, a newly-created role. He is the co-founder of Personal, which is now part of Partners Andrews Aldridge, and former chief creative officer of the Microsoft-endorsed tech start-up eMortal. He was most recently creative director at Geronimo. At RAPP he will be responsible for managing the creative department, which comprises concept teams, digital specialists, designers, information architects and moving image animators and editors.

Creative agency Reading Room has appointed Adam Sefton (right) chief strategy officer to assist the international team with its global strategy. Sefton spent four years at Reading Room previously and in the meantime worked at R/GA London where he was planning director across the agency’s Unilever account, prior to which he ran the global planning on the agency’s Nokia account.

Creative agency Collective London has appointed Richard Hedges (left) head of client services responsible for working with clients to provide thought leadership to drive their businesses. He will work across the Honda, EA, BBC, ESPN and Mars Pet Food accounts, among others. He joins Collective London from AKQA where he spent seven years working as client partner. He led a number of key accounts and was a member of the agency’s senior management team.

The River Group has appointed Alex Marks as the the agency’s first strategy director. He previously held senior marketing roles at both Ebay and Microsoft, but most recently ran his own marketing consultancy. At River he will review and contribute to strategy for both existing and new River clients.

The Press Association has expanded its content marketing division with two appointments. Richard Spencer, previously a freelance corporate communications professional, joins as editorial manager and takes on overall responsibility for all editorial operations, as well as contributing to product development. While Carla Dobson-Elliott joins from Adfero as special projects editor and has been tasked with the production of non-news content, including features, blogs, infographics and social media content.

Ultimate Asset has appointed Oli Brown senior consultant. He joins from agency 7 Stars and has more than seven years’ digital media agency experience.

Email marketing agency Alchemy Worx has hired Nick Young as new business director. He was previously group head of commercial data at The Digital Property Group, part of Northcliffe Digital, where he managed all email communications which equated to around 35m per month. At Alchemy Worx, Young will focus on building the company’s blue-chip client base in the UK, Europe and the US.

Sociomantic Labs, the German-founded RTB technology provider for ecommerce advertisers, has launched into the UK under the direction of Gavin Wilson(right) who has been appointed managing director UK. He will be responsible for overseeing the execution and development of the UK business strategy. Wilson was previously commercial director at Affiliate Window.

Getmemedia.com has appointed former ITV director of creative solutions, Simon Orpin, to the role of joint managing director, working alongside current managing director Pete Davis. Together they will look to further develop and strengthen the agency’s position in the UK. Orpin joins from his most recent position at Just So Communications where he worked across a client base in talent management, TV production, music, film and software.

Digital agency Dog Digital has appointed Barrie Jackson (left) chairman. His career has included roles as group sales and marketing director at The Edrington Group between 1994 and 2003, working with brands such as The Famous Grouse, Macallan and Highland Park. He was also chairman of Maxxium Worldwide from 2001 to 2003 where brands including Absolut, Cointreau, Jim Beam and Rémy Martin were marketed globally. After that he was president and CEO of International Beverage Holdings Limited between June 2005 and December 2009.

Tim Noakes has been appointed editor in chief of DazedDigital.com and Dazed & Confused after Rod Stanley stepped down as editor after seven years at the helm.

Digital advertising company Undertone has appointed Chris Brennan to the newly-created role of senior account manager, responsible for creating strategic digital advertising partnerships with agencies across the UK. He joins from Value Click Media where he was international sales manager.

Group Commerce, the ecommerce platform for publishers, has named Jason Keiles managing director of its UK operations as it looks to launch into the European market. Keiles is the former chief representative of Virgin Radio International and has more than ten years global experience in the media industry. He will look to grow Group Commerce’s UK business (which was acquired from Dealised early last March), as well as extend the direction of new ecommerce partnerships with companies such as Nectar and London Evening Standard.

Video sell side platform Videoplaza has hired Xavier Rius as sales business director for southern Europe. He has been tasked with managing the development of the company’s business in the region, helping media owners to deliver more revenue from their content properties, save costs and increase efficiencies in the management of video advertising. For the past three years Rius has been general manager and new business director for TV and mobile at Smartclip in Spain.