On 30 November, Stephenson is relocating to Sydney to become the new strategy director at PHD Australia.
He will report to managing partner and fellow ex-pat Mark Holden, who first worked with Stephenson at PHD in London.
Stephenson said he was "thrilled" to be returning to PHD and called it "the agency for a strategist wanting to game-change a media marketplace".
Vizeum poached Stephenson from PHD UK in October 2007 and he played a key role in retaining the planning duties for Coca-Cola.
In his role as strategy director, he also pioneered the use of content partnerships for Powerade and energy brand Relentless, and was responsible for introducing social media as a key element in Eurostar's media strategy.
Stephenson was once touted by PHD co-founder Jonathan Durden in May 2007 as a possible successor to lead the Omnicom agency in the UK.
He started his planning career at outdoor specialist Concord in 2000, before joining PHD Rocket as a communications planner in 2003.
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