The company logo for Unilever is displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., February 17, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

LONDON (Reuters) - The chief marketing officer of Unilever ULVR.LUNc.AS has decided to retire next year, handing incoming CEO Alan Jope his first big hiring decision.

CMO Keith Weed, who oversees the marketing strategy of the world’s second-biggest advertiser, announced his retirement on Thursday in a series of posts on Twitter.

“It’s with a happy and heavy heart that I’ve decided to retire from Unilever in April,” Weed said on Twitter. “It’s been over a year in planning with exciting challenges to follow.”

Choosing a successor will be a decision for the new chief executive, Alan Jope, who will take over at the start of 2019, a spokeswoman said.