BBC chief operating officer Lee Tavazyva will step down from her role in September, she revealed in an internal letter to staff.
The move makes Tavazeva the third board-level executive to leave the BBC in recent months, following the resignations of director general Tim Davie and head of BBC News Deborah Torness late last year.
Tavazeva, who has been in the role for just over three years, told colleagues: “After five fantastic years, I have taken the opportunity to reflect on my role at the BBC and decided that the time is right for me to leave to pursue new opportunities. I will step down from my role in September. It is a privilege and a great honor to be working here and to play my part, alongside all of you, to ensure that the mission and purpose of a very important organization is achieved, now more than ever.”
This news was accompanied by changes in the group of operations officers, most notably the establishment of a new media technology team at the BBC. “This new department will unite all our product and technology teams in the public service with technology and product colleagues from BBC Studios into one group team,” Tavazeva said. “Today, our technology capabilities are spread across multiple parts of the BBC, which can slow us down, create duplication, and make it difficult to deliver seamless experiences for audiences. By forming a single division, we can focus our investments, make faster decisions, adopt common tools and standards, and innovate quickly.”
It said Storm Fagan, currently chief product officer, has been appointed BBC chief technology and chief product officer to lead BBC MediaTech. “Storm is a leader who has achieved great results across the product portfolio and brings deep experience in delivering innovative, audience-focused technology across the BBC and its predecessor organisations.”
Tavazeva added that she will work “closely” with interim director general Rhodri Talvan-Davies when he takes office in April, in order to “ensure this transition period is carefully managed.”
“I recognize the uncertainty many of you are facing about the changes we are announcing today,” she said. “We will continue to keep you updated as our plans and proposals evolve and to ensure you have an opportunity for feedback and input into the work.”
