Scott Heekin-Canedy is retiring from The New York Times Company, effective December 30. Heekin-Canedy has been with the Times since 1992; serving as president and general manager since 2004.

Heekin-Canedy was one of the forces behind the Times implementing its paywall, which has been a success. In a note to staff, Arthur Sulzberger said losing Heekin-Canedy meant that “we are losing a great talent who has seen us through a very difficult economic period.”

According to the Times, Heekin-Canedy’s position will be eliminated when he steps aside.

The search for the new CEO of The New York Times Company has begun. Bloomberg reports that the Times has hired Spencer Stuart — a recruiting firm that his been used by companies such as AOL and Hewlett-Packard — to find the replacement for Janet Robinson.

The early word is that the lucky person won’t come from inside the Times, which is bad news for Chief Advertising Officer Denise Warren and Times Media Group’s President and General Manager, Scott Heekin-Canedy.

If you’re wondering why we say the new CEO will be “lucky,” you obviously haven’t been paying attention to The Sweet Life O’ Robinson.

The New York Times’ first foray into Cyber Monday — offering 50 percent discounts on digital subscriptions — was a hit. It ended up being its third largest sales day since the paper launched its subscription plans in late March.

Capital New York reports that Janet Robinson, CEO of the New York Times Company, told people gathered at a media conference that gift subscriptions are expected to provide the paper with a big boost all the way through the holiday season.

Scott Heekin-Canedy, the President and General Manager of the Times, said the success of Cyber Monday proved, “there’s still a lot of strength in the marketplace and that we still have a lot of runing room in terms of growth.”

Who would’ve thought that one day The New York Times would be embracing coupon fever?

Our sister blog in the Bay Area, BayNewser, has been tracking The New York Times‘ Bay Area metro report that will be included in its Northern California editions on Fridays and Sundays, starting today.

Reports BayNewser:

“It will start with content written by Times‘ staffers and assorted contributors, and will focus on public affairs, culture and Bay Area lifestyles. The Times already has a 10-person San Francisco news bureau.

It will really get interesting when the paper fulfills its goal of partnering with one or more local journalism organizations in an effort to build a cooperative news outlet, something that will likely happen within the year. Warren Hellman‘s Bay Area News Project has been one of those organizations rumored to be in the mix.”

PaidContent also has an interview with Times GM Scott Heekin-Canedy about the Bay Area push. “In doing this, we have reason to believe that it will strengthen our subscriber retention, perhaps result in a little bit of circulation growth, but we don’t have big ambitions there,” he said, adding, “by itself, it’s not going to be a reason to purchase the Times or subscribe to the Times.”

New York Times Bay Area Edition Rolling Out Friday –BayNewser