Jay Carney, the top policy and communications officer at Amazon and a former White House spokesman, has been named chief policy officer at Airbnb, marking another high-profile departure for Amazon as it faces a changing consumer landscape and increased regulatory scrutiny.
Carney, who served as President Barack Obama’s press secretary, will join Airbnb’s leadership team and work with co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky, the company announced in a blog post Friday.
“Jay has worked at the highest levels of government and technology, as a strategic advisor to the President, and at one of the largest technology companies in the world,” Chesky said in the post.
Carney will join Airbnb in September in Washington, DC.
Amazon has had a series of departures since Andy Jassy took over from founder Jeff Bezos as CEO last summer. This month, Dave Clark, the general manager of Amazon’s consumer business who oversaw a massive expansion of Amazon’s logistics footprint, left the company after 23 years. Clark, who will join logistics startup Flexport in September, was replaced by Doug Herrington, another executive who helped launch Amazon Fresh in 2017.
Carney started with Amazon seven years ago and led the company’s global corporate affairs organization, reporting directly to the CEO. He oversaw Amazon’s policy and public relations, focusing on the company’s dealings with lawmakers and the White House.
Carney served as White House press secretary from 2011 to 2014 after serving as Vice President Joe Biden’s communications director.
Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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