• by Sara Guaglione , December 17, 2019

Hearst Magazines has hired Kristen O’Hara for the newly created position of senior vice president and Chief Business Officer.

O’Hara will be responsible for U.S. advertising sales and marketing across the company’s portfolio of brands and oversight of integrated and corporate sales. 

Hearst Magazines says the new role is “part of the company’s transformation to provide a more unified approach to the market, offering multiplatform and multi-brand client solutions through the newly formed Hearst Media Solutions.”

Hearst Media Solutions is the recently integrated corporate group that provides multiplatform, multi-brand client solutions, putting the company's corporate sales and marketing divisions under one umbrella.

O’Hara was previously at Snap Inc., where she was vice president of business solutions. Before that, she spent 16 years at Time Warner (now WarnerMedia), where she held senior executive sales and marketing roles, most recently as Chief Marketing Officer.

“Her track record leading teams that sell across multiple brands and platforms — coupled with her fearless approach to an evolving media industry — will help our clients drive even stronger engagement with our audience while moving our business forward,” stated Hearst Magazines President Troy Young.

O’Hara’s appointment rounds out the succession plan following the retirement of Michael A. Clinton, who served as Hearst Magazines president, marketing and publishing director for nine years. Clinton will remain at Hearst as a senior media advisor.

O’Hara, who will report to Young, begins her new role January 6.

Last week, Hearst named David Carey, who currently serves as chairman of Hearst Magazines, senior vice president of public affairs and communications at Hearst. 

His appointment is effective January 2.

For the past year, Carey has been a Fellow at Harvard University’s Advanced Leadership Initiative (ALI), a program for senior executives to study solutions to large-scale societal problems.

“We are excited to have David back at Hearst full time in this new role,” stated Hearst president-CEO Steven R. Swartz last week. “Taking advantage of his year-long studies at Harvard, David will lead efforts to enhance our contribution to our communities through our core business mission, through philanthropy and through our participation in key civic groups, such as the Partnership for New York City and the Business Roundtable.”

Carey was president of Hearst Magazines from 2010 to 2018.

Hearst Magazines publishes 25 brands in the U.S.