Facebook to strengthen UK operations

The social network is recruiting for its first managing director responsible for leading the company’s UK operations. The incumbent will report into EMEA vice president Joanna Shields.

Facebook’s UK operations are currently led by UK commercial director Stephen Haines, who is likely to be a front runner for the role.

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder and CEO, revealed yesterday (11 September), that he is pinning Facebook’s future on its ability to perform well in search and mobile, suggesting the new UK managing director may need to be fluent in one or both of these areas.

Facebook is also currently searching for a regional director to assist Shields across Europe as it continues to expand its operations outside the US.

Mike D’Arcy, the former Time Warner president and currently Facebook’s director of global creative solutions, is to relocate from the US to Europe in a further indication that the social network is looking to the territory as one of the main providers of future revenue growth.

Facebook’s European revenues were up 25 per cent year on year to $346m in the three months to 30 June. By comparison, revenue from the US and Canada was up 12 per cent year on year to $590m in the period.

A Facebook spokeswoman told Marketing Week: “There is a huge focus on Europe at the moment and [these roles are being created] to make sure the company is in a position to grow.”

The company recently announced plans to move to a larger office in London as it looks to expand its UK advertising operation. The UK will also house Facebook’s first engineering office outside of the US.

Facebook said at the time that London provides the “perfect fit” to grow out its engineering team because it has a “vibrant local startup community with lots of great technical talent”