Ed Volini, who joined Random House's senior management team 15 months ago, has added the title of deputy chairman to his chief financial officer and chief administrative officer roles. While Volini's day-to-day responsibilities will remain largely the same, he will have the authority to make corporate decisions for Random House Inc. if company chairman Peter Olson is unavailable.
In his memo to employees announcing the promotion, Olson said he created the new position "in recognition of our growing need as an international company to always have a senior corporate decision maker available to our publishers and operations managers should they require an immediate response on any matter." Volini will have the authority, for example, to approve a large author advance if Olson is unreachable. Volini will also be available to represent Olson at internal meetings and in meetings with Random House owner Bertelsmann.
