Bravo Media has named a new chief of non-scripted development, announcing today that it has appointed Rachel Smith as Senior Vice President, Development. Making the announcement was Frances Berwick, President, Lifestyle Networks, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, to whom Smith will report.

Smith will be based in New York, and will oversee non-scripted development for the network including pilots, casting reels and original concepts.

She was previously Senior Vice President of Current Production for Bravo, overseeing hit original series including “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” “Don’t Be Tardy…,” “The Real Housewives of Potomac” and “The Real Housewives of Dallas” along with upcoming series “Summer House,” “Relative Success with Tabatha,” and “First Family of Hip Hop.”

Said Berwick: “Rachel’s contributions to the Bravo current team have proven invaluable. Given her track record of success and her extensive development background, she is exceptionally qualified to spearhead the development of Bravo’s next generation of top quality content.”

The Bravo announcement notes: “Prior to joining Bravo in 2013, Smith was Vice President, Original Programming at BBC America, where she spearheaded the production of unscripted originals for the networkincluding the Emmy-nominated ‘Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan,’ ‘Royally Mad with Cat Deeley,’ ‘Richard Hammond’s Crash Course,’ ‘The Nerdist with Chris Hardwick’ and ‘Almost Royal,’ along with numerous specials around the ‘Planet Earth,’ ‘Top Gear’ and ‘Doctor Who’ franchises. Before BBC America, Smith held the role of Vice President, Development & Production, Scripted Programming at The Independent Film Channel and  Executive Producer, Discovery Fit and Health & Planet Green. While at IFC, she developed and executive produced various scripted comedies including, ‘The Whitest Kids You Know,’ ‘Bollywood Hero with Chris Kattan’ and ‘The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman.’ Smith previously worked at Bravo from 1999 to 2005 in both the development and production departments where she helped develop ‘The Real Housewives of Orange County,’ ‘Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles,’ and oversaw ‘The Kathy Griffin Show.’”

Rachel Smith (Bravo Media)