Ingram, who is currently globally CEO of Added Value, part of WPP's market research business, will oversee all of Grey in the UK.
She will directly look after advertising agency Grey London and have management responsibility for integrated agency Joshua, PR agency GCI, design agency Geometry, and MDS Global Consulting, the data analytics business. Ingram will also drive Team P&G, which looks after Grey's biggest client Procter & Gamble.
The move follows the WPP's acquisition of Grey, which completed in March this year, and over a year after the sudden departure of Garry Lace, chief executive of Grey London.
Creative director Dave Alberts retains his role of chairman, which he took on in the wake of Lace;s departure in March 2004, and Nicola Mendelsohn stays as deputy chairman.
Ingram will report to Carolyn Carter, president and CEO of Grey Europe Middle East and Africa, who said she had been lobbying for a year for Ingram to take on the job.
"She'll be a great centre of gravity for all our marcoms operations in the UK and a leader and partner for our terrific management team at Grey London," Carter said.
After a long career in advertising, Ingram's most recent role was as the president of three of WPP Group's market research companies: the Henley Centre, Added Value and Fusion5.
Ingram joined Saatchi & Saatchi in 1985 and became chief executive 10 years later. She left in 2002 to become chairman and chief executive of McCann Erickson, a role she quit only a year later.
According to Ingram: "The Grey Group has fantastic clients, a deep understanding of building brands and we can engage with consumers at every touch-point. Dave Alberts and the management team have done a tremendous job, particularly improving the creative work."
Ingram also sits on the board of the London Development Agency and is non-executive chairman of Visit London. She is also a member of the council of the IPA, a member of the Marketing Society and Marketing Group of Great Britain, and chair of the development board of the Royal Court Theatre.
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