Korn Ferry has been contracted to find a replacement for Steinhafel

May 5, 2014 14:32 GMT  ·  By

The board of directors of US retailer Target has announced that Gregg Steinhafel is no longer the company’s president and CEO. The announcement comes just months after the company suffered a major data breach in which 40 million payment cards were compromised.

“Today we are announcing that, after extensive discussions, the board and Gregg Steinhafel have decided that now is the right time for new leadership at Target,” Target’s board of directors announced on Monday in a statement to the press.

Korn Ferry, the world’s largest executive search firm, has been called in to find a replacement for Steinhafel. In the meantime, John Mulligan, the retailer’s CFO, has been appointed as interim president and CEO.

Steinhafel has also stepped down from the position of chairman of the board of directors. Roxanne S. Austin has been appointed interim non-executive chair until a permanent replacement is found. Austin is a current member of the board of directors.

Steinhafel has agreed to serve in an advisory capacity during the transition period.

“The board is deeply grateful to Gregg for his significant contributions and outstanding service throughout his notable 35-year career with the company. We believe his passion for the team and relentless focus on the guest have established Target as a leader in the retail industry,” the board stated.

“Gregg has created a culture that fosters innovation and supports the development of new ideas. Under his leadership, the company has not only enhanced its ability to execute, but has broadened its strategic horizons.”

Steinhafel has led the response to the data breach suffered by the company last year. He appeared in a number of videos published by the retailer shortly after the incident came to light to address the concerns of impacted customers.

Steinhafel’s resignation comes shortly after the company appointed Bob DeRodes as the new chief information officer. The retailer is still looking for a chief information security officer.

Since the data breach, the company has taken numerous steps to ensure that such incidents are avoided in the future. It has enhanced the monitoring and logging of its systems, it has installed application whitelisting POS systems, vendor access has been reviewed and limited, and account security has been enhanced.

The company says it’s committed to accelerating the transition to more secure chip-and-PIN cards. Target hopes that it will begin accepting payments from all chip-enabled cards by early next year. In the meantime, the retailer wants to move its REDcard portfolio to chip-and-PIN technology by September.