White House hires ex-Twitter VP as chief digital officer

Silicon Valley’s ranks continue to grow in Washington. Jason Goldman, who has worked with a number of high-profile startups, was announced as the White House’s first-ever chief digital officer Tuesday.

Goldman announced his new position in a post on Medium, a platform he helped launched in 2012 with Twitter founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams. Calling the position “an honor and an incredible challenge,” he will help shape the Obama administration’s digital outreach.

“I believe civic engagement with our government is our right and duty,” Goldman wrote. “And I believe online platforms can help us do this, connecting individuals to their government and in turn making government more accountable.”

Politico was first to report Goldman’s new position.

Goldman previously served as chief operating officer for Obvious Corporation, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm. He also served as vice president of product for Twitter and as a project manager for Google, overseeing its Blogger platform until August 2006.

Prior to his announcement, Goldman had been working for a few months to more directly engage the White House with citizens, such as posting the text of the latest State of the Union so citizens could follow along during the speech.

“The White House is always looking for ways to listen to the American people, better understand the ways that the government can help, and create dialogue about its policies and initiatives,” Goldman wrote on Medium. “The Internet/technology/social media is not going to fix all that ails us, but it does create platforms where we can work together in ways that weren’t really possible previously.”

Goldman’s hire is another in a slew of Silicon Valley veterans named to top tech positions within the White House. Last week, the White House appointed David Recordon, previously Facebook’s engineering director, as the first-ever head of White House IT.

Goldman’s first day will be April 6.