The executive ranks at Pinterest seem to be going through some executive pains. It was confirmed by the image-sharing website on Friday that the company’s head of partnerships, Joanne Bradford, has decided to step down. She decided to leave the firm after declining to take on a role that came with fewer responsibilities, according to information provided by individuals familiar with the matter. The exit of the partnership chief marks the second one from the company in the last few months. Don Faul, the company’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) had decided to leave it in February after working there for five years.
In an emailed statement, a spokesman of the company said that they were thankful to Joanne for all she had done for building Pinterest’s partner team and first monetization program. He also said that they hoped to work with Joanne as an advisor for the company in the future. Bradford will serve as a strategic adviser for the company, but will no longer be involved in the day-to-day operations at Pinterest. She joined the company in 2012 after she left her position of President at the San Francisco Chronicle. She was a major contributor to the money-making scheme that was introduced by Pinterest.
Apart from that, Bradford also developed the sales team of the San Francisco Company and also oversaw the development of the firm’s partner programs and ad strategy. However, her role had recently been diminished within the company. Tim Kendall, the head of the product team at Pinterest for three years, had gotten a promotion earlier this month. The promotion made him general manager of monetization, which meant that he was in charge of product marketing, sales and partner marketing and would also hold his old position in product development. This means that a part of Joanne Bradford’s team, which included partner marketing and product marketing, would be reporting to Kendall from now on.
According to an individual familiar with the situation, Bradford had been offered a role that involved running a part of sales after the change. When Kendall’s promotion had been announced, he had said that the idea was to avoid bottlenecks and move as quickly as possible because of which he had taken more responsibility. Kendall’s new role allowed him to meet with a marketing partner and then not just relay, but also implement whatever had been discussed to the product team at a faster rate than before.
Previously, the meeting would have been attended by Bradford, who would then communicate the discussions to Kendall and then so on. Such executive changes are considered common when the transition phase is entered by a startup such as Pinterest. The company has seen a year of testing advertising products and years of explosive and immense growth. Now, it is doubling down on its revenue plans. A slew of advertising offerings had been announced by Pinterest earlier this month, which include more sophisticated targeting options. A buy button was unveiled this week, enabling users to buy products without leaving Pinterest.