Melissa Nelson
Melissa Nelson

Melissa Nelson, who headed Publicis Groupe's Seattle outpost for the past three years, is switching to Edelman as Pacific Northwest president. She's responsible for the more than 250 staffers in Seattle and Portland.

Nelson, who worked with clients such as Aflac and T-Mobile while at Publicis, has ad agency expertise from stints at Droga5, 72andSunny, and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners.

Kristine Boyden, head of Edelman/West, said she's worked with Nelson on the HP account and "immediately respected her as a growth-minded collaborator and formidable competitor.”

Nelson will be based in Seattle when she joins Edelman on Nov. 18.