D&AD chief executive Patrick Burgoyne has stepped down as the organisation restructures after the "dramatic" financial impact of coronavirus.
The charity said that Burgoyne "unselfishly volunteered to relinquish his role" as it plans a "significant reduction" in staff numbers.
Dara Lynch, who has been chief operating officer for 12 years, will take over in leading the company.
D&AD said that it has "seen our revenues dramatically reduce during the pandemic" and that businesses that are part-events companies have been "badly hit".
It has therefore set up a "survival plan" to allow it to continue to run the D&AD awards, support creative talent through its New Blood programme and "rebuild our reserves so that we can reshape D&AD for a different, primarily digital, future".
Burgoyne joined D&AD in September 2019, taking over from Tim Lindsay, who stepped up to chairman to replace Dick Powell. Burgoyne had been editor of Creative Review for 20 years.
The rest of the management team remains, comprising president Kate Stanners, deputy president Ben Terrett and the board of trustees, alongside Lindsay.
