New position will report to Shailesh Prakash, Chief Information Officer & Vice President of Digital Product Development
“In recent years, The Washington Post has focused on transforming into a growing, world-class media and technology company. The robust partnership between news, engineering and product continues to fuel our success, as does our culture of ongoing experimentation and innovation throughout the organization,” said Frederick J. Ryan, Jr., publisher and CEO of The Washington Post. “As technology continues to change the landscape at an unprecedented pace, The Post will stay ahead of the curve by continuing to invest in highly skilled technology and engineering talent—Scot Gillespie is a prime example of this, and we are thrilled to have him join the team.”
Prakash added, “Our Engineering team has had an impressive year, from shipping reader- and advertiser-facing products across the digital spectrum, to a re-designed website, to a new suite of apps, to custom experiences on Facebook, Apple News, Google AMP and Apple TV. Our technology performed flawlessly during the election season as we broke all-time records in digital traffic while simultaneously signing on major new clients for our Arc Publishing Technology. Adding a technology leader of Scot’s caliber will only bolster this success, and propel us forward.”
Gillespie joins The Post from W. W. Grainger (NYSE: GWW), where he served as Vice President of Engineering. He led software development and engineering operations for Grainger’s consumer- and business-facing systems, including their innovations labs and Grainger online, which produced more than $9 billion in annual revenue combined. Under his leadership, the engineering teams helped grow Grainger’s digital business from 23% of company revenue to more than 50%, as well as built digital eCommerce platforms across four countries.
Gillespie noted, “For me, the culture at The Post, the exceptional journalism, and the integration of engineering with the newsroom and product is a perfect fit. I look forward to the opportunity to help further evolve and differentiate the product suite and create unique value for customers with the Arc technology platform. The future is very exciting at The Post, and I am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the team.”
Prakash will expand his focus and deepen The Post’s ties with technology partners, charting The Post’s expanding product and technology roadmap over a longer time horizon. He will also spend more time with the Audience Development and Data Science teams as data becomes an increasingly important tool in growing The Post’s national and international audiences.
Gillespie holds a BS in Information Systems from National Louis University and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University.
Gillespie will start with The Post on January 3, 2017.
