Time Inc. is about to name a new C-suite executive — a chief transformation officer, Media Ink has learned.
The move is expected to be made by next week’s earnings report, according to well-placed sources.
The new job will be part of a new initiative of cost controls, divestments and some investments as the publisher of Time, Sports Illustrated, Fortune and InStyle scrambles to re-position itself against the backdrop of ever- shrinking print ad revenue.
The CTO will be charged with implementing many of the recommendations made by consulting giant McKinsey & Co., sources said, including shaving $300 million in costs. McKinsey has been poking around the nation’s largest publisher for months, sources said.
Time Inc. has never officially confirmed McKinsey’s presence. Internally, the consulting firm has been known only by its code name, K2.
As part of the streamlining, Time Inc. this week is expected to hold preliminary talks with potential suitors or partners for its massive data operation, the Tampa Customer Service division, which employs 700 people.
Meridian Advisory Group (MAG), not McKinsey, is the consulting firm overseeing the Tampa review, Media Ink has learned.
Time Inc. could end up selling the Tampa division, sources said, or entering a partnership/outsourcing deal.
Among the firms interested in the Tampa operation are: HCL Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, and Infosys.
Each is based in India.
A fifth company expected to kick the tires, Cognizant, has offices in Teaneck, NJ, but has 155,000 of its 255,000 worldwide employees based in India.