Nuance Communications this week appointed Gary Clayton to the newly created position of chief creative officer.

Previously, Clayton served as vice president of speech strategy at Yahoo!, where he oversaw speech implementation for the Yahoo! platform and mobile products, including oneSearch with Voice. Prior to Yahoo!, he spent seven years at Tellme Networks, where he was chief creative officer, managing design, speech engineering, product strategy, and creative production. He also managed his own media production company, Clayton Multimedia, where he produced numerous award-winning records, films, and television projects. Nominated for a Grammy, he is still a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

In conjunction with Clayton’s appointment, Victor Chen has also joined Nuance as senior director of creative strategy. Prior to joining Nuance, Chen served as the director of business management at Yahoo!, where he was responsible for developing the company’s speech strategy and introducing oneSearch. Prior to Yahoo!, he was director of strategic initiatives with Tellme, guiding the strategy and design of mobile search applications.