The New York Times has promoted Sam Dolnick to an associate editor position, reflecting the Times' growing focus on digital and the rise of one of the younger members of the family that controls the paper.

Dolnick will "serve as the bridge between the masthead, the new digital teams and our editors and reporters," Times executive editor Dean Baquet told staff in a Thursday memo obtained by Capital. "Sam's mission will be to agitate for change and to help accelerate the digital transformation that is already underway across the newsroom.

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"He will serve as the foremost advocate for the evolving digital needs of each desk," Baquet continued in his note, "helping to implement our digital strategy and working closely with the digital deputies who will now report jointly to him and their desk heads."

Dolnick had previously been serving as a senior editor for mobile following a stint on the sports desk. He is one of several cousins employed by the Times who is a member of the fifth generation of the Ochs-Sulzberger family that has owned the paper since 1896. The others include fellow journalist A.G. Sulzberger, who is the son of Times publisher and chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr., and David Perpich, an executive on the business side.

Dolnick, Sulzberger and Perpich, all in their 30s, are being closely watched as likely future top executives of the Times as the current generation of leadership begins to wind down.

Dolnick and Sulzberger are both in digital roles as the Times pursues a wider online audience and new platforms on which to showcase its journalism.