There’s a new face and new responsibilities for upper management at St. Joseph Media. The changes, reported after the break, have also led to the departure of Giorgina Bigioni, one of the company’s highest-ranking and longest-serving employees.

In an e-mail sent to staff yesterday, St. Joseph Media president Douglas Knight announced the following moves:

• Jim Warrillow has joined the organization as chair of Where Canada. He’ll work closely with vice-president and group publisher Sharon McAuley and the publishers of each of the Where magazines across the country. Warrilow is the former chair of the Rogers group of magazines.
• Andrew Crane takes on the new role of vice-president operations, with responsibility for digital operations, including production, I.T. and on an interim basis, the entire Web platform.
• Michelle Kalman is promoted to vice-president creative marketing. She’ll be working closely with publishers and clients on the development of "innovative cross platform solutions."
• Lil Lozinski will take on the new role of senior vice-president of the now-combined style and lifestyle group of magazines. She'll be responsible for Fashion, Wish, Weddingbells, Mariage Quebéc, Canadian Family and Gardening Life.  The custom publishing group and the Montreal group led by Bettina Magliocco will also report directly to Lozinski.
• As a result of this last change, the position of vice-president and group publisher of the lifestyle group will be eliminated, meaning that Giorgina Bigioni has been let go by the company.

After almost 20 years in management, vice-president and  group publisher Giorgina Bigioni has been let go by St. Joseph Media.

Bigioni was a senior member of the St. Joseph (previously Key Media) publishing team for almost 20 years. She’s served as publisher and group publisher for many titles, including Where Magazines International and Where Toronto, Toronto Life Fashion, Weddingbells and Mariage Quebéc, Gardening Life and Canadian Family. She also led the development team for Wish, St. Joseph’s shopping mag.

“Although Giorgina Bigioni and I were hoping to avoid this decision,” Knight wrote, “we have both come to the conclusion that this is in the best interests of both St. Joseph and Giorgina.”

According to Knight’s e-mail, Bigioni plans to start the Director Education Program at the Rotman School of Management later this month, “although she really intends to spend most of the summer on the golf course with her family and friends. She says that once she figures out golf, she will look for a new adventure.”

Her last day is May 2.