US retailer Target has announced former US Department of Homeland Security Bob DeRodes will become the company’s CIO after the abrupt departure of former CIO Beth Jacob’s.

Last year in the lead up to Christmas, Target suffered from a huge data breach that compromised 40m credit and debit card accounts as well as personal information from approximately 70m customers.

Target said effective May 5, DeRodes will lead its IT transformation as EVP and CIO. DeRodes will oversee the Target technology team and operations, with responsibility for the its ongoing data security enhancement efforts.

DeRodes worked as a senior information technology advisor for the Center for CIO leadership, the US Department of Homeland Security, the US Secretary of Defense and the US Department of Justice prior to his new position at Target.

He has also provided independent advisory services to corporations, private equity firms and boards.

Target’s chairman, president and CEO Gregg Steinhafel said his top priority following the data breach is to find a “clear path” for it to follow.

“I believe Target has a tremendous opportunity to take the lessons learned from this incident and enhance our overall approach to data security and information technology. Bob’s history of leading transformational change positions him well to lead our continued breach responses and guide our long-term digital strategy,” Steinhafel said.

Since the data breach Target said it has been overhauling some of its divisions that handle security and technology.

Target announced it will be rolling out a “significant” new initiative as part of its accelerated transition to MasterCard chip-and-PIN-enabled REDcards from early 2015.