Joe Waz, SVP, external affairs and public policy counsel, is retiring after 17 years with Comcast, effective April 30.
Waz has had primary responsibility for the company's public policy.
A spokesperson said no replacement has been named.
"Joe had many duties from running the PAC to the Comcast Foundation and External Affairs and head of policy," said the spokesperson. "Some will be assumed by other executives and there will be a new policy head hired."
"Joe Waz has been a great asset not just to Comcast but to the entire telecommunications industry," said Comcast executive vice president David Cohen. "He has been a great leader of the company's external affairs function, including his service as President of the Comcast Foundation....While we'd love Joe to delay his retirement, he's told us he can't wait any longer to start this new phase of his life."
Waz joined Comcast in 1994 from The Wexler Group in Washington. Before that, he was at Ralph Nader's Telecommunications Research and Action Center. Waz is moving to the West Coast to become a part-time consultant, with Comcast as his first client. He will also chair the Broadband Internet Technology Advisory Group.
"Joe had an exemplary full-time career, starting with the Telecommunications Research and Action Center, a Ralph Nader group, and continuing through his consulting work and position with Comcast," said Public Knowledge president Gigi Sohn. "I enjoyed working with him, even though we may disagree on issues from time to time and always believed he was an honest broker of ideas."
Comcast is already heavying up on the policy side. NCTA president Kyle McSlarrow comes on board beginning next month as President, Comcast/NBCU Washington, in charge of Comcast's public policy office in Washington.
"Joe Waz has been an innovative thought leader and friend for many years and the cable industry has benefitted from his wise counsel and ability to connect the dots on many complicated issues that we've tackled together," said McSlarrow. "Joe has earned great respect among telecom policy leaders across the entire ideological spectrum and his effective advocacy will be hard to replace."
