BBC Worldwide has appointed Deborah Rowland as people director. Rowland, most recently executive vice-president global human resources at Gucci Group, and founder and managing partner of Transcend Consultancy, has also held organisation and management development roles for Shell and PepsiCo, and was a consultant on change and HR management for Towers Perrin in Europe.

As well as leading the HR team at BBC Worldwide, she will be responsible for all aspects of HR, incorporating people and organisational development strategy, recruitment and selection, talent management, training and development, reward, culture, engagement and employee relations.

She will also be responsible for the property and technology teams and will sit on the worldwide executive committee, reporting directly to John Smith, chief executive of BBC Worldwide.

Smith said: “Our people and culture are the backbone of BBC Worldwide’s success so it’s vital we have someone at the HR helm who can motivate and support our world-class staff.

Deborah will be a fantastic person to drive our HR strategy forward, with experience in global companies including Gucci, Shell and PepsiCo, and I look forward to her joining us in September.”

Rowland replaces Michelle Emmerson, who leaves to take up a position at ASOS.com.

I am delighted to be joining BBC Worldwide, a global media company with great brands and great people all over the world. I look forward to leading on its people development and infrastructure strategies as the company grows and moves into new territories