Snap is adding two new executives, including a splashy hire from Amazon.
Jeremi Gorman will serve as Snap's new chief business officer, in charge of global business solutions, global online sales, customer operations and business marketing, CEO Evan Spiegel said in a note to employees Wednesday. Most recently, Gorman was head of global advertising sales for Amazon.
"Helping our partners build their businesses is a core element of Snap's product value and I'm deeply proud of the great work you have all done to make sure our advertisers' return on investment is unrivaled among our peers," Spiegel wrote. "Jeremi joins us with proven expertise and talent that will make our platform even better."
Amazon's quarterly ad sales went above $2 billion for the first time during the first quarter of 2018. It has become the third largest advertising platform in the U.S. behind Google and Facebook, according to eMarketer.
Jared Grusd has been named the new Chief Strategy Officer for the company, Spiegel announced. Grusd will oversee content, global strategy, partnership and corporate development. Before Snap, he most recently was the CEO of The Huffington Post, and held jobs at Spotify, Google and Oath.
Gorman's and Grusd's roles will replace the job Imran Khan previously held. Khan announced he was leaving the company in September.
Snap also added Jean Gonié as its director of EU Policy and Alston Cheek as its director of platform partnerships this month. Gonié was previously director of public policy at Amazon, while Cheek was a partnerships manager at Apple.
Snap has had a rough time lately as it faces increased competition from Facebook's Instagram. A recent report from Piper Jaffray found 85 percent of teens used Instagram, making the app more popular than Snapchat for the first time in the survey's history. The stock has declined more than 53 percent over the last year. Adding notable digital advertising and media executives may help bolster Snap's image, especially among brands and marketers.
The company reports earnings on Thursday. Shares of Snap immediately reacted to the news, spiking as much as 2 percent.
Here's the full email to employees below:
I'm happy to announce two significant additions to our leadership team today that will help us deliver on the long-term promise and potential of Snap.
Jeremi Gorman will be our Chief Business Officer, managing Global Business Solutions, Global Online Sales, Customer Operations, and Business Marketing.
Jeremi joins us from Amazon, where she is the Head of Global Advertising Sales. In six years of increasing leadership responsibilities at Amazon, she oversaw business intelligence and analytics and the international expansion of Amazon's advertising business.
Helping our partners build their businesses is a core element of Snap's product value and I'm deeply proud of the great work you have all done to make sure our advertisers' return on investment is unrivaled among our peers. Jeremi joins us with proven expertise and talent that will make our platform even better for our partners and I am excited to have her on our team.
Jared Grusd will be joining Snap as our new Chief Strategy Officer, overseeing Content, Global Strategy, Partnerships, and Corporate Development. Jared, who is an attorney by training, has held leadership positions at Spotify, Google and Oath, and for the past three years, he served as the Chief Executive Officer of The Huffington Post.
In his new role, Jared will work to expand Snap's footprint and develop key relationships around the globe to scale user growth. We have an immense amount of running room to grow globally through the billions of people who do not yet use Snap. Getting them to experience the speed, ease and fun of Snap – that Snap is the fastest way to communicate -- will be a key in the coming months and years.
I know our goals for the coming years are ambitious. But I have great confidence in our ambition because we have led our industry time and again in developing products people love. That's all thanks to you, our incredibly smart, creative and kind team.
I'm proud to have Jeremi and Jared join our team, where they will play an important part in shaping the next chapter for Snap. Thank you again for all of your hard work, and thank you in advance for welcoming Jeremi and Jared into our Snap family.
Evan
Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal is an investor in Snap.