Charter Communications said executive VP and chief marketing officer Jonathan Hargis and executive VP field operations Tom Adams will transition to advisory roles in April and retire later this year. As part of that transition, the cable operator has promoted several executives to fill those roles and others throughout the company.
Hargis joined Charter in 2012 as CMO after serving in a similar position at Cablevision Systems. At Charter he oversaw all of the company’s sales and marketing operations, including its transition to the Spectrum brand.
Adams came to Charter in 2012 from Time Warner Cable, where he served in several operational roles for 17 years, including division president in Binghamton, N.Y. and Rochester N.Y; regional vice president of operations for Wisconsin and Eastern Carolina. Earlier in his career he held various leadership roles at NewChannels Corporation.
“Jon and Tom have been instrumental to the growth and success of Charter and the embodiment of leadership in the development of their teams,” Charter chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge said in a press release. “Jon is a legend in cable marketing and his no-nonsense attitude, competitive instinct and sales leadership helped drive Charter’s growth and the creation of a customer-centric value proposition that continues to be at the core of our business model today.
“Tom’s steady hand, expertise and commitment to excellent customer service led our field operations through the repositioning of Charter in the marketplace and the successful completion of the largest systems integration this industry has seen. I thank them both for their friendship, their many contributions to Charter and the broader cable industry, which has also benefited from their storied careers.”
As part of that transition, senior VP field operations Tom Monaghan will become executive VP field operations. Adam Ray will take on the newly created role of executive VP, chief commercial officer. Both will report to chief operating officer Chris Winfrey.
Monaghan joined Charter in 2014 from Cablevision Systems and most recently served as senior VP of operations. In his new role he adds oversight of field engineering and construction; supply chain management; business planning and human resources for field operations across 41 states. He has more than 30 years experience in the cable industry.
Ray has been with Charter for 16 years, coming over in 2005 from Comcast where he spent five years as a sales leader in Knoxville, Tennessee. In his new position, Ray will oversee all marketing activity for Charter in addition to his current role leading sales, retention, analytics and Spectrum Community Solutions.
In addition, senior VP marketing Sharon Peters has been promoted to executive VP, chief marketing officer, and senior VP sales and retention Christian Ruiz has been named executive VP, sales and will report to Ray.
In her new role, Peters will be responsible for the entire marketing function.
Ruiz most recently served as senior VP, sales & retention and in 2021 his responsibilities were increased to include all residential and small- and medium-sized business (SMB) sales and retention functions, adding direct sales, Spectrum Stores and Retail, SMB Strategic Channels and Sales Operations to his existing responsibilities for all of Charter’s inbound sales and retention call centers.
He joined Charter in 2014 as regional VP, commercial sales and previously served as senior VP of customer service at Cablevision, and also led sales and service teams at AT&T and T-Mobile, USA.
“Having worked closely with the field operations, sales and marketing teams over the years, I have seen firsthand the capabilities and leadership that Tom, Adam, Sharon and Christian bring to the organization,” Winfrey said in the press release. “They possess the necessary skill, experience and track records that will benefit Charter long into the future.” ■
