Engine Creative – the creative pillar of Engine, the UK’s independent marketing, communications and consultancy company – has expanded its offering with the hire of Rob Chalmers as its first chief experience officer (CXO).

In this newly created role Chalmers will report to Ete Davies, CEO of Engine Creative, and will be tasked with leading the agency’s brand and experience consultancy; with a focus of driving growth through the design of innovative brands and connected experiences.

Chalmers recently called an end to a five-year stint with R/GA in Asia-Pacific to return to London. While at R/GA, Chalmers held the position of executive creative director APAC, where he was responsible for building and leading the experience and design practices across Sydney, Melbourne, Singapore, Tokyo and Shanghai, and driving rapid growth across the region. Chalmers and his teams partnered with brands including Toyota, Nike, Telstra, Google, Shiseido and Standard Chartered to transform their customer experience and tackle C-suites challenges.

Over the past five years Chalmers has developed actionable experience strategies that outline how brands can grow by enabling change. The output of these strategies has seen the creation of net new brands, products and services and the transformation of their digital ecosystems. Prior to R/GA he worked at the ideas and innovation company AKQA.

Chalmers says, "When I think about the impact that disruptive technology has had on consumer behaviour and expectations – and the new series of challenges it presents to brands – it's clear they will need a new type of partner to adapt and grow. When you combine human-centered creativity with Engine’s full stack offering, you have the perfect platform to help brands take on these challenges."