Bamford, who was Vodafone's chief marketing officer, could walk away with up to 拢7m in compensation and shares in the move, which is the latest in several exits from the company's board including those of former finance director Ken Hydon and deputy chief executive Julian Horn-Smith.
Bamford was number four on Marketing's Power 100 list in 2004 although he failed to make the list last year. He had been at Vodafone since 1997 when he joined from WH Smith.
The departure of Bamford is likely to fuel speculation about differences between chief executive Arun Sarin and former chief executive Sir Christopher Gent, who holds the title of Vodafone's life president.
Last week, the firm said it was in talks about selling its Japanese phone business and last month warned its assets were overvalued by as much as 拢28bn, as it faces slowing revenue growth.
The company did not name a successor, but said that the global consumer marketing director Frank Rovekamp would temporarily take over Bamford's role.
Neither a new marketing strategy nor a replacement marketing chief have been announced. However, a possible replacement for Bamford is global marketing director David Wheldon, who was head of Vodafone's global advertising account at WPP. Also in the frame is Neil Simpson, Vodafone's global brand director.
A spokesman for Vodafone said: "Bamford has been given notice to leave in accordance with his contract."
The spokesman added that the company was: "Undertaking a fundamental review of the group's marketing function."
Sarin said: "Peter Bamford has made a major contribution to our business over many years. We wish him well in the future and thank him for all he has done for Vodafone."
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