Damian Bates, editor of the Press and Journal, has left the company after 15 years with Aberdeen Journals.
Mr Bates said he had decided that the time was right for him to take up new career and business opportunities.
Staff were informed of the move yesterday in Aberdeen by Mike Watson, managing director of DC Thomson Publishing, owners of the Press and Journal and Evening Express.
Mr Watson said Mr Bates would continue to work with the company as chairman of the Fifth Ring communications business, but had stepped back from the P&J and the general newspaper business.
Mr Bates said Aberdeen Journals had been a “massive part of my life”.
DC Thomson’s MD said Mr Bates had been a valued member of the senior team and at the heart of a number of innovative projects.
Mr Bates became editor of the Press and Journal in 2011 after more than four years in a similar role at its sister title, the Evening Express. He was appointed editor-in-chief of Aberdeen Journals in 2013.
He said: “I arrived in Aberdeen with the firm view that I’d stay two years and move on again; 15 years later I’m still here. The north of Scotland has become my home and Aberdeen Journals has been a massive part of my life.
“Having been editor of the newspapers for almost 10 years, I’ve worked with and met some fabulous people and had some incredible experiences, but I know I now want to use my skills in other areas and challenge myself in new ways.”
Mr Watson announced that Richard Neville will become editor-in-chief of the company’s morning newspapers across Aberdeen and Dundee, responsible for both The Courier and The Press and Journal.
Mr Neville is a former deputy editor at the Press and Journal.