Ted Cockle’s leading British imprint Virgin EMI has tapped Karma Artists founder Jordan Jay as Senior A&R Manager, marking his return to Universal after a nearly five-year run in artist management.

Jay joined UMG U.K. in 2006, where he spent seven years at Geffen and Polydor/Fascination. During that time he was instrumental in 40 global hits, four U.K. #1s and the success of Girls Aloud, The Saturdays and The Wanted.

In 2012 Jay left to form Karma Artists Management, which he'll continue to run alongside his new role, looking after a stable of songwriters and producers including Red Triangle (James Arthur, 5 Seconds of Summer, Charlie Puth), Tre Jean-Marie (Craig David, Kaytranda, MNEK) and Sam Preston (Olly Murs, John Newman, The Vamps).

As a consultant, Jay worked on the last four series of The X Factor for Simon Cowell’s Syco Entertainment. He also teamed with Virgin EMI on British pop band The Vamps, A&R-ing their Top 10 album Wake Up and new single “All Night,” which is their highest-streaming track to date.

Jay reports to Virgin EMI’s SVP of A&R Nick Burgess, who said: “Jordan enjoyed great success with Universal during his first spell here and since then he has enhanced his reputation as a great pop A&R through Karma Artists, blending writers, producers and artists into a consistently winning formula. We’re excited about the music he will bring to the label.”

Jay added: “I’m now looking forward to discovering more amazing new artists and bringing together the best possible combination of talents to create great music and big hits.”

Last year, Virgin EMI came top of the leaderboard in AES marketshare figures in Blighty with 11%. Its roster includes Jake Bugg, Emeli Sande, Bastille and James Bay. The label also looks after a number of U.S. stars such as Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry and Rihanna.

Alongside Cockle and Burgess, Jay joins MD Clive Cawley, Jason Ellis, who is A&R Director at the label’s dance imprint Positiva, Senior Marketing Manager Ian Carew and radio promo man Bruno Morelli.