Viacom has appointed Kern Schireson executive vice president and chief data officer. In this newly-created position, Mr. Schireson will be responsible for expanding Viacom’s data capabilities across all areas of the company’s domestic and international business, including its television, theatrical, events, consumer products, and digital business units.

According to a statement released by the company, Mr. Schireson will report to Wade Davis, executive vice president and CFO of Viacom. Some of the data-driven initiatives he is expected to work on include extending Vantage, Viacom’s advertising platform, across the global television marketplace; accelerating the growth of data science at Paramount; building a foundation to incorporate new uses of data in Viacom’s events and consumer products businesses; and forging data-based partnerships for Viacom across the digital and social ecosystems.

Mr. Schireson previously served as Viacom’s executive vice president of Data Strategy and Consumer Intelligence. He joined Viacom in 2014 from Schireson Associates, a data science and analytics firm he founded in 2003. He graduated with a BA in Philosophy from the University of California, Los Angeles.