In the role, he will report to Gary Von Kennel, global CEO, but will also continue as partner and president of Rapp Digital, which is a division of the Rapp Collins Brazil Group.
His job will be to identify existing digital strengths at the individual office level and export them throughout the Rapp Collins network, so that it can establish world-class service on a global scale.
Von Kennel said: "As we continue to enhance our digital offering, we wanted to harness our existing assets. With his specialised education, passion and experience, Ricardo is the logical selection for this position."
His appointment comes the same day as Omnicom revealed it was pooling its digital media buying into a division called OMG Digital, which will service clients of OMD, PHD, and other media agencies within the Omnicom Media Group.