Heinz has promoted Giles Jepson to the role of chief marketing officer.

Jepson moves up from the position of director of the Heinz Explore team and will take up his new job on 1 May.

He joined the food manufacturing giant in September 2008 as marketing director for beans, kids and meals. A year later he was promoted to marketing director for Heinz sauces, soups and Amoy, where he worked on Heinz’s £5m ‘It has to be Heinz’ campaign. Encompassing Heinz’s core products and including TV, radio and in-store marketing, the campaign represented the company’s biggest media spend in five years.

Jepson moved on to the Heinz Explore role in May 2011, where he was responsible for creating new incremental business and breakthrough innovations.

Prior to Heinz, he was marketing director for Lindt & Sprüngli. He also held a number of senior commercial and marketing roles at Colgate-Palmolive, including commercial manager and marketing manager.

Jepson’s new role follows the promotion earlier this month of Matt Hill from the role of chief commercial officer to president of Heinz UK & Ireland. Hill, who joined Heinz in August 2010 as chief marketing officer, replaced Dave Woodward, who last month moved from the role of president for the UK & Ireland, Africa and the Middle East to president of Heinz’s Rest of World business.

Jepson will also become a member of Heinz’s UK and Ireland executive team and will report to Hill.