Rob Stevenson back at UMG

Rob Stevenson, most recently president of Virgin Records U.S., has returned to his longtime home, Universal Music Group, as exec VP of A&R at Universal Republic Records. Based in New York and charged with expanding the label's A&R activities, Stevenson will report to Universal Republic prexy-CEO Monte Lipman and co-president/chief operating officer Avery Lipman. A&R-intensive move is the latest under the purview of recently installed Universal Motown Republic chairman-CEO Barry Weiss, whose roots lie in talent development. Before joining Virgin in 2010, Stevenson was veepee of A&R at UMG's Island Records, where he signed such top acts as the Killer, Fall Out Boy, the Bravery, Sum 41 and Thrice. He previously served as an A&R exec at Mercury Records. Monte Lipman said in a statement, "Rob is a brilliant music executive with a strong track record of success. And we are fortunate to have someone of his stature joining Universal Republic as we continue to expand the services we offer our artists." Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com