Havas Media Network has named James Olney as its new global head of effectiveness.

In this newly created role, Olney will be responsible for building a measurement framework that enables clients to more accurately assess the return on their marketing spend.

He will collaborate with strategy, planning, data and analytics teams across the network to develop capabilities that link marketing efforts directly to business results.

Olney’s scope of work will cover measurement methodologies, experimentation, marketing-mix modeling and the deployment of AI-powered analytics tools throughout Havas Media Network.

He will report to Joanna Lawrence, global chief strategy officer at Havas Media Network.

The appointment represents a homecoming for Olney, who previously worked at Havas as data strategy director for O2/Telefónica.

Most recently, he headed advanced analytics and effectiveness for the U.K. and EMEA region during the IPG-Omnicom transition, after serving as head of data and analytics at Mediahub EMEA.

In recent years, Olney has concentrated on leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning to strengthen the connection between marketing activity and tangible business performance.