Hulu hires chief technology and data officer in corporate restructure

Hulu has hired a new chief technology officer and appointed its first chief data officer  as part of a reorganisation designed to “more effectively serve and delight consumers and drive overall growth”.

With the hires, Hulu said it has put in place a new structure that aligns its executive management and teams around four strategic priorities: the subscriber journey; technology and products; content; and advertising.

TiVo’s former chief operating officer, Dan Philips, has joined Hulu’s executive management team as chief technology officer. He will be responsible for aligning the company’s technical and product strategy with its core business strategy to “more effectively innovate and deliver on consumer and partner needs”.

Based in Santa Monica, Philips will oversee a newly-unified technology and product unit that spans engineering, data centre operations, network and broadcast operations, information technology and program management, product management, user experience and product development.

Walmart’s former senior vice president, global data and analytics platform, Jaya Kolhatka, has been appointed to the newly-created executive management role of chief data officer. Kolhatka will be responsible for “elevating Hulu’s customer intelligence”, implementing strong data governance and driving a culture of objective, data-driven decision making across the company.

The new corporate structure will see Hulu’s chief marketing officer, Kelly Campbell, expand the company’s marketing organisation to take responsibility for the subscriber journey – from acquisition, engagement and retention, to viewer experience and research – across all of Hulu’s on-demand and live TV plans.

Hulu is also restructuring its content teams into two groups. First, it is combining its live TV and subscription video on demand content licensing, acquisition and business functions into a single content partnerships group. Secondly, the Hulu Originals team will now operate as a dedicated business function while continuing to manage Hulu’s original programming and its relationships with creators, producers and studios.

Senior vice president of content, Craig Erwich, will lead the Hulu Originals team while Hulu is currently searching for a head for the new content partnerships group. With the restructure, Hulu’s chief content officer role no longer exists and chief content officer Joel Stillerman and senior vice president of partnerships and distribution Tim Connolly are exiting the company.

Finally, Hulu’s advertising sales group will continue reporting to senior vice president of ad sales Peter Naylor.

“As one of today’s top direct-to-consumer entertainment brands, led by technology, innovation and data, Hulu has an enormous opportunity to lead the media and advertising industries into the future,” said Hulu CEO Randy Freer.

“By adding new expertise and capabilities to our executive ranks and creating greater alignment around our customers, we are positioning Hulu to grow more rapidly, innovate more quickly and connect consumers even more deeply with the content they love.”