After years of having communications run by the ultimate insider—Chris Castro—and months with no top-level chief, Yahoo went outside for its first major re-org hire: Jill Nash comes over from Gap Inc. to be SVP and chief communications officer effective Jan. 16. Nash will report directly to Chairman and CEO Terry Semel. As VP-global communications at Gap, which is no stranger to performances that don’t always meet expectations, Nash “focused on reputation management, cultural transformation and strategic change at both the corporate and brand levels.” Semel cited her “proven track record developing strategic and holistic communications programs for both external and internal audiences.” Her first step towards managing Yahoo’s rep: describing this as an “exciting” time to join the company. Release.