Condé Nast UK is hiring a chief digital officer

Condé Nast UK CDO will have to set digital strategy across magazines, websites, live events and marketing

Condé Nast UK, the publisher of Vogue, Glamour, GQ and Vanity Fair, is on the hunt for a chief digital officer (CDO).

The CDO would report to the managing director, and would be responsible for developing new initiatives and setting digital strategy across all of Condé Nast UK's businesses, including its magazines, websites, marketing, live events and education.

The successful candidate will have to be brimming with ideas, according to the company, so that the marketing and commercialisation of existing properties can be fine-tuned, and so they can advise on moving into new ventures and make suggestions on who the company should partner with and how.

They will have a particular focus on all consumer and advertiser touch-points, and will be tasked with unifying all of the publisher's efforts across marketing, data, content development, social and user experience.

As well as having a presence in the UK, the CDO will have a strong relationship with Condé Nast International, and will report to the president of the US company. They will work in conjunction with the team on the new Vogue International global platform, and the data, technology and editorial strategies currently in progress.

The publisher wants to hire someone with a strong background in technology and digital marketing, who also has commercial and creative flair and access to a strong network of digital talent. They need experience of using data, CRM and an understanding of budgets and an ability to manage costs.

The salary was not disclosed in the job advert. Applications close on June 5th.

Condé Nast UK is just one of many organisations that has decided to hire a CDO in order to drive a digital strategy and, in some cases, to digitally transform the organisation altogether.

Most recently, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said he would be hiring a CDO - almost a year after promising to appoint a new technology chief for the capital.

However, some chief information officers (CIOs) believe that they should be driving the digital strategy themselves, or that a CDO is a transitional job role that will be obsolete in a few years' time. There is also an ongoing debate as to where a CDO is more of an IT role, or a marketing position.

At the end of last year, News UK CTO Christina Scott said that her organisation had no need for a CDO, because it was already comfortable with digital.

"I don't want a CDO," she told Computing.

"For me, a CDO is advantageous where you have a company which really doesn't get digital at all. To allow digital to work [in such places], you need to break it off and put it on the side as a new thing," she said.

Computing's IT Leaders Forum 2017 is coming on 24 May 2017. The theme this year is "Going Digital: Why your most difficult customer is your best friend".

Attendence is free, but strictly limited to IT Leaders. To find out more and to apply for your place, check out the IT Leaders Forum website.