The National Theatre has appointed its first-ever chief executive, Tessa Ross, to work alongside new director Rufus Norris.
Ross was previously controller of film and drama at Channel 4.
The appointment comes as part of a shake-up in the organisational structure of the board. Ross will join the National Theatre in November, but will not formally become chief executive until April.
She will share leadership of the theatre with Rufus Norris, who becomes director in April 2015.
The theatre is currently run jointly by director Nicholas Hytner and executive director Nick Starr. A spokeswoman from the National Theatre said that the changes in title will put the joint running of the Theatre on a formal footing. She said that it continues to be a two-person top team with the same duties in the new set up.
Nick Starr will not be replaced as executive director. Lisa Burger will continue as chief operating officer.
John Makinson, chair of the National Theatre, said: “The National has grown enormously in scale and complexity under the leadership of Nicholas Hytner and Nick Starr. We are both a national and an international organisation, with a global audience of four million.
“Tessa's international experience and reputation as a producer and executive need no introduction, and her partnership with Rufus Norris will give us the strongest possible platform on which to extend the National Theatre's creative and commercial leadership.”
Ross has been at Channel 4 since 2003. She became head of Film4 in 2003, followed by controller of film and drama in 2008. Ross was responsible for producing Oscar-winning films such as Slumdog Millionaire and 12 Years a Slave.
Ross, who was on the board of the theatre from 2011 to 2014, said: “I’m incredibly excited to be joining the National Theatre, one of our most iconic and significant cultural institutions and a place that I’ve loved since I was very young.
“Under Nicholas Hytner and Nick Starr’s leadership, it’s been an exceptional and inspiring home for the theatrical and creative communities, and I’m privileged to be working with Rufus to build its next chapter.”
