Ronan Harris. Image: Shane O’Neill
Harris joins Snap as the company goes though a major reshuffling to refocus on revenue creation amid ‘uncertain times’.
Snapchat parent company Snap has named former Google Ireland and UK managing director Ronan Harris as its new president for the EMEA region.
The move comes amid a significant restructuring of Snap to cut costs, streamline revenue and focus on three strategic priorities: community growth, revenue growth and augmented reality.
Harris, who studied electronic engineering at University College Dublin, will take up his new role next month.
After joining Google in 2005, Harris quickly rose ranks to become vice-president of large customer sales in the EMEA region in 2012 and was promoted to VP and managing director of Google Ireland and UK in 2016.
Harris is one of three new presidents joining Snap across the EMEA, APAC and Americas regions. The other two positions are yet to be filled.
“Our three regional presidents will provide in-market leadership, lead cross-functional efforts across our business, oversee local operational needs and lead our go-to-market strategy,” Evan Spiegel, CEO and co-founder of Snap, wrote in a letter to employees.
He added that Harris will report to Jerry Hunter, a senior VP of engineering at the company and former Amazon executive, who is being promoted to chief operating officer of Snap.
Spiegel’s letter, which was sent to employees last week, also revealed that the company will be reducing the size of its team by 20pc. According to The Verge, the social media company has around 6,400 employees.
“The scale of these changes varies from team to team, depending upon the level of prioritisation and investment needed to execute against our strategic priorities,” Spiegel wrote.
“The extent of this reduction should substantially reduce the risk of ever having to do this again, while balancing our desire to invest in our long-term future and reaccelerate our revenue growth. Overall, the size of our team will remain larger than it was at this time last year.”
Spiegel added that “changes of this magnitude are never easy”.
“I am proud of the strength and resilience of our team as we have navigated the myriad challenges of growing our business in a highly competitive industry during uncertain and unprecedented times.”
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