Google has recently promoted several Australia/New Zealand employees.

Guy Gibbs will now head up agency relations for Asia Pacific. Coming from the same position for Australia/New Zealand, this leaves Gibbs former role open to applicants. Gibbs was a key player in bringing Google’s Creative Sandbox to Sydney.

Media sales will now be headed up by Karen Stocks. Karen has been with the search giant since 2007 after moving from Vodafone. She was with Vodafone for 12 years, most recently as GM of service strategy and customer service.

Richard North has moved from Google’s agency team to YouTube partner manager. North will liaise with local content partners.

Two new industry leaders for the region have been appointed for the region. Claire Hatton will take up the post for Travel, Government and Local Business portfolios. William Easton will take over the portfolios of Retail, Technology and Consumer Goods.

Were seeing continued opportunities to help build Australian and New Zealand businesses in 2010 and Im excited to have a great team in place with the right industry credentials, said Karim Temsamani, Google Australias managing director. The promotions will enable us to continue playing a leading role in providing insights to our clients and partners, further developing our display offering and continuing to foster the agency relationships that Guy Gibbs and his team have so effectively started building.

The company is currently hiring across departments and levels – including marketing and communications, take a look here.