Emily Powers, a key member of the original team who helped develop and launch BritBox in Canada in 2018, is stepping up to oversee the company’s North American operations.

Powers was responsible for writing the initial business plan, negotiating and executing the joint-venture streaming service run by BBC Studios and ITV, as well as directing the service launch in North America, will oversee the company’s Canadian and U.S. operations.

Her appointment to the role follows Soumya Sriraman’s decision to step down as president and CEO for North America at the end of this month.

Powers (pictured) currently serves as SVP and commercial head and will now become EVP and head of BritBox North America.

In the role, Powers will continue to lead on all commercial relationships, distribution partnerships, performance marketing and customer retention while adding editorial and creative to her remit. She is also currently overseeing business operations for BritBox’s launch in Australia.

BritBox launched in Canada in February 2018, greenlighting Bletchley Circle: San Francisco – a revival of two-season code-breaking mystery The Bletchley Circle. The 8 x 60 minute series aired in Citytv in Canada and was produced by Vancouver’s Omnifilm Entertainment in association with BritBox and World Productions.

The executive joined BBC Studios (then BBC Worldwide) in 2012 as director of strategy before being upped to VP strategy and business development. Before this, she was director of business development in NBCUniversal’s Digital Distribution group.   

Powers has played “a large part in BritBox’s ongoing success,” said Martin Goswami, group strategic partnership and distribution director at ITV, in a statement. “Her strategic vision and extensive experience in video-on-demand make her a natural choice for the role and I look forward to continuing to work closely with her as she leads BritBox into an exciting new era.”

“Over the past five years I have had the privilege of being part of the senior team that has transformed BritBox from an initial concept to a hit service with more than 1.5 million subscribers, which in turn has laid the foundation for global expansion. In this new role, I will look for innovative ways to continue fostering the service’s success,” added Powers.

This story originally appeared in Realscreen