After close to 17 years at the BBC, its executive vice president of advertising sales for Asia & ANZ Sunita Rajan is joining rival CNN International.

Rajan will join the company in March 2015 and will head up advertising sales for Asia Pacific. She will lead teams across Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, New Delhi and Mumbai under chief commercial officer Rani R Raad.

Rajan will also be responsible for overseeing strategy to increase ad revenue. In addition to this, she will be part of Raad’s management team, guiding the brand’s international commercial strategy.

Commenting on Rajan’s appointment, Raad said: “Her expertise fits perfectly with CNN’s multi-platform offering and she is ideally equipped to take CNN’s long-standing commercial success in the region to the next level.

“She will undoubtedly prove a valued colleague to the entire Asia business across the full spectrum of our commercial activity in the region where CNN continues to enjoy a strong leadership position.”

Rajan added: “This is a tremendous opportunity to build further growth for the global news leader across its extensive portfolio of TV and digital products in a region as exciting and dynamic as Asia Pacific.”

Rajan will be supported in her new role by Sonali Chatterjee, Stacey Rabsatt, Atsushi Saito and Sally Young, directors respectively for South Asia, South East Asia, Japan and North Asia, including New Zealand and Australia.

Rajan has held a career in media for over 25 years and has held roles at Star Television and News Television (India).