John Saunders, CEO and Global President of FleishmanHillard under Omnicom PR Group, will be stepping down on October 1, with J.J. Carter taking over his role. At that time, Saunders will assume the position of chairman. Carter, at present the Global Chief Operating Officer and President of the Americas for FleishmanHillard, will be reporting to Omnicom PR Group CEO Chris Foster in his new capacity and join the global leadership team.Carter will continue to work from San Francisco, with no plans to relocate to St. Louis, Missouri, the place where Saunders is based, or to New York City. Saunders, originally from Dublin, Ireland, has led FleishmanHillard for nine years. He was appointed Regional President for EMEA in 2011, following his role as Regional Director for Europe, which he began seven years earlier. He led the foundation of Fleishman-Hillard Saunders in 1990.In 2023, Cisco?ÇÖs North America PR business was retained by the company which continues to work with pivotal clients such as JPMorgan Chase, Johnson & Johnson, Philips, Samsung and PepsiCo. However, the firm lost major accounts like UPS and AT&T, with the latter choosing Jackson Spalding as its lead PR agency.Carter has been with FleishmanHillard since the year 2005, taking on several leadership roles before being named Global Chief Operating Officer and President of the Americas in 2016.