SEPTEMBER 15, 2025–Over the last several years, HarperCollins has been growing capabilities in the areas of direct-to-consumer (DTC) platforms, data engineering, and product development and announces the following staff promotions and updates.
Kate Johnson will take on the expanded role of Senior Vice President, DTC and Consumer Engagement. In this new role, Kate will lead efforts to scale and improve ecommerce strategy to establish stronger direct relationships with readers. She will continue leading HarperCollins Christian and Focus platforms, such as Bible Gateway, Study Gateway, and The Foyer, in addition to the US and Harlequin Trade platforms, including Book Club Girl and Epic Reads. She will also spearhead the unification of HarperCollins’s TikTok Shop strategy under one coordinated approach. Finally, Kate will lead the revamp of email and performance marketing strategy, with an emphasis on product-driven campaigns that prioritize email acquisition and sales conversions.
Since joining HarperCollins in 2020, Kate has been instrumental in the growth of HCCP’s DTC business, nearly tripling its revenue under her guidance. She has demonstrated exceptional leadership, creativity, strategic vision, and a proven ability to drive growth and innovation for HarperCollins. Kate will dual report to Mark Schoenwald, President and CEO, HarperCollins Christian Publishing, and Liate Stehlik, President and Publisher, William Morrow and HarperCollins Children’s Books.
Alvar Jover will take on an expanded role as Global Director of Growth and Analytics, adding the US Trade business to his purview. Alvar will bring the strategic analysis, data engineering, and product development tools and processes his team has successfully implemented at HarperCollins UK to the US business. He has done an exceptional job optimizing revenue growth strategies for HarperCollins UK, and we look forward to expanding these efforts to our US titles. Alvar will continue to report to Charlie Redmayne, CEO, HarperCollins UK.
Doug Lockhart, SVP, Sales and Marketing, HCCP, will continue to oversee the HarperCollins Sales Department on an interim basis.
With these changes, Jim Hanas, Vice President, Central Marketing and Strategy, will be leaving the organization. Jim joined HarperCollins in 2013 as Director of Audience Development and has since played a pivotal role in growing our central marketing function.
In addition, Stephen Smith has been promoted to Vice President, Digital Products and Brands, for HarperCollins Christian Publishing.
“These changes will allow for a more unified and collaborative work structure across various HarperCollins divisions and underscore our commitment to reaching readers where they are, strengthening our consumer connections, and accelerating growth across all of our publishing brands,” stated CEO Brian Murray.
