Paul Smurl spent the last ten years at The New York Times in digital product development, paid content, advertising sales, strategic planning and business development roles. The latest is as general manager, core digital products, managing the performance and product evolution of core web and mobile products. 

Paul Smurl was named vice president, NYTimes.com paid products, in January 2010.  In this role, he was responsible for the financial performance of NYTimes.com’s digital subscription plan, overseeing its implementation and managing the business after the build-out phase to grow paid products into a significant business.

In August 2011, Smurl added responsibility for strategy and business development and advertising planning/operations.

Previously, Paul Smurl had been vice president, advertising, for The New York Times since June 2008, where he was responsible for sales development, planning, and agency relations.  Before that, he was executive director, planning, since 2007, and a member of the advertising leadership team. Smurl joined The Times in 2003 as a director in strategic planning, where he was a liaison to advertising.  He moved to advertising in 2005 as managing director of the telecom team, and then later of the technology team. 

Before joining The Times, Smurl was a management consultant, first with Mitchell Madison Group, then as part of a MMG spinout at Andersen and KPMG Consulting. There he worked on growth strategy, merger integration, and cost restructuring assignments. 

Smurl started his career as a lawyer at Shearman & Sterling, where he was involved in various financing, M&A, and securities transactions and cases.