Twitter is on the verge of hiring Natalie Kerris -- once a major communications executive with Apple -- to take charge of its own communications unit, according to a report.
Kerris has been spending "a lot of time" speaking with top Twitter executives, and is considered the frontrunner for the job, Re/code said. She would be replacing Gabriel Stricker -- who recently exited the company -- and working closely with general counsel Vijaya Gadde.
Kerris spent 14 years at Apple, and had her hands in PR work for many of Apple's biggest products including iPhones, iPods and iPads. She officially left the company in April, and at the time hinted that she might be retiring.
Twitter management is in turmoil, having lost several key personnel including its media, product, engineering, and human resources heads. Co-founder Jack Dorsey returned to the company last month and promised dramatic changes to make more Twitter more viable, including laying off 8 percent of the company's workforce even before the recent executive departures.
In December the company controversially recruited Apple's Jeffrey Siminoff to serve as its new VP of Diversity & Inclusion. Siminoff is a white male, which might've been less problematic except that the company has faced complaints about how it handles diversity -- including some from Leslie Miley, who until he was laid off in October was Twitter's only non-white worker at a high level within engineering or product management.