CRA appoints head of commercial strategy

Nathan Jolly

February 17, 2026 8:45

CRA appoints head of commercial strategy

Helena O'Dowd is joining CRA

Commercial Radio and Audio has appointed Helena O’Dowd as its new head of commercial strategy.

O’Dowd was most recently at Nine, where she served as director of growth and retention. She left Nine in November after six years, following the restructuring of the company’s marketing. Prior to this, O’Dowd spent three years at OMD Australia, 18 months at Slingshot, and three years at Mediacom across various executive roles.

At CRA she’ll be tasked with “the delivery of key industry-wide initiatives, driving audience and revenue growth across the sector as part of CRA’s 2030 Strategic Plan”, according to a media release.

O’Dowd said she is “excited to step into the world of CRA where collaboration and appetite amongst the industry and members to move at pace has been overwhelmingly positive; ensuring the future is bright for the category.”

CRA CEO Lizzie Young said O’Dowd’s “understanding of the consumer marketing landscape, as well as commercial realities, makes her exceptionally well placed to understand the challenges facing marketers today.”

Young said the head of commercial strategy role has “a dedicated customer focus in market [and] complements our existing activities and the broader CRA team which supports our members – Australia’s commercial audio broadcasting sector.”

CRA hosts its annual Heard conference in Sydney tomorrow afternoon, a marketing showcase for the Australian commercial radio sector.