Fairfax Media New Zealand chief executive Joan Withers has resigned after barely four years in the job.
Ms Withers says she plans to pursue interests she had prior to taking up the position.
She will leave the company at the end of June.
Fairfax Media publishes The Age and Sydney Morning Herald newspapers in Australia, as well as The Dominion Post, Sunday-Star Times and The Press in New Zealand. It also owns Trade Me.
Fairfax Media's underlying profit tumbled 23% in the six months to December, largely because of falling advertising revenue.
The company laid off 5% of its workforce in New Zealand and Australia last year in an effort to cut annual costs by $A50 million.