The speculations about who will be the next CMO for Facebook after its CMO Gary Briggs announced his plans to retire all the way back in January has come to an end. The company has finally found a new marketing veteran to replace him. Antonio Lucio — the former CMO for Hewlett-Packard — will take over the role starting September 4, according to a Facebook post from the company’s chief product officer.

The Chief Product Officer Cox reports about Lucio that he has an extraordinary reputation in the industry as a leader, a marketer, an operator and a wise, gracious and deeply principled human being. Prior to joining Facebook, Lucio was at Hewlett-Packard for the last three years. He has also led the marketing organizations for Visa and PepsiCo and was part of the brand and marketing teams for Kraft Foods Group and Procter & Gamble.

Lucio is signing on to Facebook at what could arguably be the most difficult time in the company’s history. Facebook has spent this year struggling to overcome a multitude of obstacles — from the crisis that resulted because of its negligent handling of user data to the ongoing efforts around keeping its platform safe from malicious content and bad actors.

In his post announcing Lucio’s appointment, Cox mentioned the precarious position Facebook is now in. The company, which had a reputation for low turnover among its top executives before this year, has recently experienced a slow drip of departures from its highest ranks — the latest of which is Dan Rose, Facebook’s VP of partnerships. Earlier this week, Rose, who has been with Facebook since 2006, posted on his public Facebook page that he was positioning out of his role at Facebook.

Rose’s departure follows the June announcement that Elliot Schrage, Facebook’s head of communications and public policy, would also be leaving the company. After 10 years at Facebook, Schrage said he had been in discussions with CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg about his...