No.10’s head of digital David Tomchak joins Evening Standard to lead online strategy
Number 10 Downing Street’s head of digital, David Tomchak, has left the civil service to return to the media industry as digital director of editorial at the Evening Standard.
Evening Standard hires No.10's head of digital to lead online strategy
Tomchak will lead the title’s digital growth across its two sites, Standard.co.uk and Homes and Property, responsible for the digital editorial and production teams. He will work alongside editor of the newspaper, Sarah Sands, until her departure later in the year when she will join the BBC Today programme. The newspaper is currently on the search for her replacement.
He will report to Zach Leonard, managing director of digital at ESI Media, parent to the Evening Standard, and is expected to start in May.
His appointment comes at a key time in the Evening Standard’s investment to its online properties, after recording the largest month-on-month increase in UK monthly page views amongst national newspaper websites in January, up 23%.
In the same month, it reached its highest ever pageviews globally and in the UK. Global pageviews were up 39% year-on-year to reach 57.5m global pageviews, while its UK views were up 42% to reach 42.7m.
Tomchak has led digital marketing and communications for the Prime Minister and Cabinet Office since May 2015, at the same time serving as deputy director to the Government Communications Service.
Prior to joining the civil service, Tomchak spent nearly a decade at the BBC holding various editorial positions and serving as digital manager, before launching the BBC Global Content Hub.
Tomchak said: "Working at the heart of government during one of the most eventful periods in this country’s modern history has been a great privilege and honour. I am delighted to now be joining the team at the Evening Standard and look forward to helping them continue to build a truly global British brand, where world-class journalism, product development and audience insight are at its core."
Zach Leonard added: "The dynamics of digital publishing call for provocative and engaging ways to gather and report news, which complement the successful formula of the newspaper - but also go beyond, to meet the demands of 24/7 mobile consumers, increasingly reading and sharing on devices and often through visual and video media."