Nike Has a New Chief Innovation Officer

Nike Inc. has a new chief innovation officer.

Tony Bignell, the vice president for running footwear, has been promoted to chief innovation officer. He will report to Phil McCartney, executive vice president, chief innovation, design and product officer. According to an internal memo obtained by FN, Bignell has started transitioning into his new role, in partnership with John Hoke.

Hoke, the departing chief innovation officer, is a 33-year veteran at Nike is retiring. He will stay on through October.

Bignell’s mandate is to advance the vision of the Advanced Innovation Collective across Nike’s portfolio of brands, sports, products and platforms.

He has 30 years experience as a product designer, developer, and innovation visionary. Most recently, he led the Footwear Innovation team for nine years, and played a role in creating new footwear platforms such as Next%, VaporMax, React and Joyride. He was also part of the core team leading Breaking2, a project aimed at breaking the two-hour marathon barrier. Bignell also spearheaded a reset of Nike’s marketing for running footwear, driving gains in consumer engagement.

There have been a number of recent executive changes at Nike following Elliott Hill‘s appointment as CEO last October. “Elliott is absolutely the best choice for this position, and I’m so happy to see the brand make the right decision and put him in the job,” Matt Powell, advisor at Spurwink River and senior advisor at BCE Consulting, told FN at the time. “He has all the qualities that are necessary to help the brand turn around. He has deep experience, both U.S. and global., he understands the culture, he knows of the retailers.”

Some of those shifts include last month’s promotion of Amy Montagne as Nike brand president and McCartney’s promotion to chief innovation, design and product officer. (At the same time, the company disclosed that Heidi O’Neill, president of consumer, product and brand, will be retiring.) And Tom Clarke, who was strategic advisor to the CEO and members of the senior leadership team, took on the new role of chief growth initiatives officer.

The company is expected to disclose Bignell’s successor “shortly,” according to one individual familiar with those plans.

The flurry of executive moves are believed to be part of Hill’s effort to “accelerate” Nike’s progress against it “Win Now” action plan, which was developed in December. The strategy is based on new priorities centered around five fields of play, three countries and five cities.