Dentsu Canada on Tuesday told strategy that the agency’s leadership team is undergoing further change, with Patrick Hounsell stepping down from his role as CEO after less than five months.

Hounsell, who took on the role in January after October’s announcement, will be replaced by Stephen Kiely, who was the previous CEO of Dentsu Canada.

Kiely, above left, will be adding the duties to his current responsibilities as CEO of Dentsu network agency Tag Americas, a position he took on during January’s executive shuffle. He joined the Dentsu network of agencies in 2020 as president and CEO of DentsuBos, and was later named CEO of Dentsu Canada in spring of 2022.

Hounsell, above right, joined Dentsu in August 2023 and served as president of Dentsu B2B Americas, based out of New York, until this year’s move to Canada. Before that, he spent more than 12 years at Merkle, where he was hired in 2011 as chief digital officer before departing in October 2023, having worked his way up to an EVP position.

“These changes are part of our long-term strategy to ensure we have the right talent in place to lead our business into the future,” Kiely tells strategy. “Our executive team is in a strong position – focused on making Dentsu Canada a career destination for top talent and a trusted partner for our clients as they navigate economic uncertainty and the impacts of tech disruption. We feel confident that we have the right team in place to drive our business forward and our focus is now on continuing to build momentum, delivering value and ensuring stability for our clients and teams alike.”

It’s been a busy spring in the leadership department at Dentsu.

In late April, Ari Elkouby was named the new CCO of Dentsu Creative Canada to replace Jordan Doucette, who was named CCO at McCann Worldgroup Canada last November. Hounsell said last month that Elkouby’s “omni-channel thinking” was as a key element to his hire as CCO.

In January, Christine Saunders was named Dentsu Media’s CEO of media practice.

A top-five agency on strategy’s 2025 Creative Report Card, Dentsu Canada also recently promoted Scott Taverner to an ECD role and appointed Kevin McHugh to a chief strategy officer position.

Earlier this month, former Dentsu executives Rafik Belmesk and Maxime Sauté were named to Courage’s leadership team as it announced the launch of its Montreal office.