Australian conglomerate Wesfarmers Ltd. said Oct. 11 that it appointed Sarah Hunter as managing director of its Officeworks retail division, effective Jan. 1, 2019.

Hunter will succeed Mark Ward, who is retiring as head of the office products chain and becoming a senior adviser to Wesfarmers.

Hunter has been working with Wesfarmers' food retailer Coles since 2010 and is overseeing the implementation of the unit's planned spinoff.

This follows several recent leadership changes at Wesfarmers. In August, the company said Guy Russo would retire as CEO of its department stores division and also as managing director of Target in Australia but continue in an advisory role for a limited period. Ian Bailey and Marina Joanou, two other executives within the department stores division, have been tapped to fill the roles being vacated by Russo.