Betty Thayer, chief executive of the online job board, exec-appointments.com, is retiring and moving to a new part-time role as deputy chair. The move comes as a result of organisational changes announced by the Financial Times which acquired the site a year ago.

The latest changes come into effect on October 1 2008 when all recruitment advertising for both the FT and exec-appointments will be combined into one organisation.

During seven years as chief executive, Thayer became one of the leading figures in global online recruitment. She was selected as the industry's personality of the year in 2006, and she is a frequently-quoted expert on the sector.

Thayer will hold the post of deputy chair until the end of 2008, before taking on a variety of non-executive and consulting roles.

She said: "The past seven years have seen an inexorable rise in the way people use the internet to find work. Online recruitment has matured from a platform primarily used for more junior-level positions to one that currently hosts some of the most prestigious jobs available. Our three products, exec-appointments.com, non-execs.com and MBA-Direct.com are all global leaders in their markets."

The new acting managing director is Steve Playford who was at the Telegraph Media Group for 15 years before he joined the FT and exec-appointments in July as head of recruitment advertising sales. During his time at Telegraph Media Group, Steve Playford worked across print and online products. As head of recruitment solutions at TMG, he oversaw the growth of Jobs.Telegraph.co.uk and launched a highly profitable special reports business.