Tripadvisor Reshuffles Leadership, Chief Technology Officer Is Leaving: Scoop
Skift Take
Key Points
- Tripadvisor's Chief Technology Officer, Billie Sue Chafins, and General Manager of E-commerce, Kent Sands, are leaving the company amid a leadership reshuffle.
- Gwyn Fisher, Dan Mitchell, Nathan Seitzman, and Kat Krieger will take on new or expanded roles as part of the leadership restructuring.
- The restructuring aims to enhance decision-making and collaboration, with leadership addressing employee questions on February 10.
Summary
Tripadvisor is undergoing a significant leadership reshuffle, with the departure of Chief Technology Officer Billie Sue Chafins and General Manager of E-commerce Kent Sands, following a recent wave of layoffs. New roles have been assigned to Gwyn Fisher, Dan Mitchell, Nathan Seitzman, and Kat Krieger as part of a strategic move to improve decision-making and collaboration within the company. Employees will have the opportunity to address their concerns during a live Q&A session on February 10.
A day after Tripadvisor fired more than 150 employees and contractors, President Kristen Dalton announced internally that its chief technology officer and general manager of e-commerce will be leaving the company, according to a staff email obtained by Skift.
"We are evolving our organizational structure to enable faster decision-making and deeper collaboration throughout the organization," Dalton wrote in the email. "In establishing the go-forward Tripadvisor leadership team, we are solving for tight alignment between our functional and business operations teams."
The chief technology officer who's leaving the company is Billie Sue Chafins, who's been in that role for 14 months. The email didn't say why she's out.
Kent Sands, who's been general manager of e-commerce & affiliates for nearly five years, will "focus on being a full-time dad," according to the email. Sands ran Brand Tripadvisor's experiences and restaurant businesses; he's worked at Tripadvisor for more than 11 years.
Both Chafins and Sands reported to Dalton.
Dalton wrote that Tripadvisor is "at an inflection point," necessitating "a hard look at the role each business plays in our portfolio and evolving the role the GM plays in each business."
Tripadvisor didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about the executive reshuffle.
Other Tripadvisor Leadership Changes
In other leadership changes, according to the email:
- Gwyn Fisher assumes a new role as head of engineering and chief architect. Fisher has been VP of engineering, platform and operations since March 2020.
- Dan Mitchell, general manager and vice president, hotel auction, for the past five years, takes on an expanded role as general manager of core businesses.
- Nathan Seitzman, who's been vice president, strategy and transformation for two years, will become general manager of growth, which includes the app, membership and Brand Tripadvisor experiences.
- Kat Krieger, senior director of strategy and transformation, will have an expanded role.
Company leadership will take live questions — submitted in advance — from employees about the changes on February 10, the email said.
Photo Credit: A screenshot of a Tripadvisor video of a family viewing a horse and rider in Mexico City. Tripadvisor/Youtube
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