Snapchat Snaps Up Chief Strategy Officer

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Snapchat has hired veteran banker Imran Khan to become its first chief strategy officer, a spokeswoman for the Venice startup said.

Khan, who was formerly the head of Internet banking at Credit Suisse, will work with Chief Executive Evan Spiegel to help with Snapchat’s overall strategy and planning, including the execution of the app’s new mobile payment service called Snapcash. Khan was also previously an analyst at J.P Morgan Chase & Co., covering Internet companies such as China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba Group.

Khan will relocate from New York to Los Angeles and is expected to start in the new year.

Snapchat appears to be locking down its C-suite as the disappearing messaging app’s user base continues to grow and monetization becomes a bigger priority. The startup last year recruited Emily White, who oversaw the deployment of Facebook’s first ads on photo app Instagram, to become its chief operating officer. Snapchat is also looking for its first chief financial officer, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Staff reporter Melissah Yang can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @MelissahYang for the latest in L.A. tech news.