Profile: Tim Davie

Tim Davie began his career in the private sector

Tim Davie has been appointed acting director general of the BBC following the resignation of George Entwistle in the wake of the Newsnight broadcast on 2 November which wrongly implicated ex-senior Tory Lord McAlpine in a child sex abuse scandal.

Mr Davie, 45, takes over as the BBC's governing body - the BBC Trust - begins the process of agreeing on a permanent successor.

He will be in charge of leading an organisation reeling from the aftermath of what the chairman of the Trust, Lord Patten, described as "the unacceptable mistakes and the unacceptable shoddy journalism which has caused so much controversy".

In October 2012, he was appointed as the new chief executive of BBC Worldwide and was due to take over in December.

Mr Davie has been in his current role of director of BBC Audio & Music, with overall responsibility for BBC Radios 1, 2, 3, 4, and the BBC digital radio stations 1Xtra, 6Music, BBC 4Extra, and the Asian Network, for four years.

He also oversaw the three BBC orchestras in England, the BBC Singers, and the BBC Proms; classical music & performance television, factual radio and radio drama production are all within his remit, under the Audio and Music production department.

Mr Davie had to deal with some delicate situations under his tenure. Soon after he began his current post, he had to address prank calls made by Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross on Radio 2. The decision to shut 6 Music under his tenure, which was later reversed, also brought scrutiny.

Private sector

Tim Davie became head of Audio & Music on 1 September 2008.

From April 2005, he was director of the BBC's Marketing, Communications & Audiences division.

He joined the corporation from his post as vice-president, Marketing and Franchise, PepsiCo Europe.

After reading English at Cambridge University, he joined Procter and Gamble's marketing department, becoming a Brand Manager in 1991.

He is a member of the BBC's Executive Board, a trustee of BBC Children in Need, and board member of Radio Joint Audience Research - Rajar - the official body in charge of measuring radio audiences in the UK.

Mr Davie is married with three young sons.