In a note to employees this morning, Gina Centrello, president and publisher of the Random House Publishing Group, announced that Libby McGuire will be stepping down as executive v-p and publisher of Ballantine Bantam Dell at the end of the year.

Centrello said that McGuire, having focused on the company's authors and books for so long, "now wants to dedicate her time to seeking and creating new professional opportunities for herself. “

When McGuire leaves, employees reporting to her will report to Centrello “for an interim period.”

McGuire has filled a number of different roles in her 15 years at Random House. She was also directly responsible for the publisher's mass market operations since April 2011.

Centrello credited McGuire with “help[ing] us win over and successfully publish Janet Evanovich, Debbie Macomber, Jodi Picoult, and Emily Giffin, while contributing to further building the author brands of Jonathan Kellerman, Dean Koontz, and Danielle Steel."