Long-time Nickelodeon vet Russell Hicks is leaving his role as president of content development and production at the US kidsnet, a Nickelodeon representative has confirmed.

Hicks’ exit is effective immediately, and details regarding his replacement have yet to be revealed.

L.A.-based Hicks took the reins as president of content development and production in 2012, following the departure of Nick Animation president Brown Johnson.

Hicks, who was previously Nickelodeon’s chief content officer, has spent the past four years leading the company’s live-action and animation development and production teams for all content platforms, including Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Nick Jr., TeenNick and Nicktoons. Among his accomplishments was the creation of Nick’s Animated Shorts Program.

Since 2013, all Nickelodeon content executives have been reporting to Hicks, who reported directly to Nickelodeon president Cyma Zarghami.

Zarghami has been at the helm of Nickelodeon since 2006 and was named president of Viacom’s newly restructured Kids and Family Group in 2015. A wave of layoffs hit the net’s preschool and animation operations as a result of those restructuring efforts─anticipated to help save the company US$250 million a year.