MINNEAPOLIS — The major data breach that hit Target Corp. during the holiday shopping season has cost company chairman, president and chief executive officer Gregg Steinhafel his job.

Target’s board of directors announced on May 5 that the directors and Steinhafel “have decided that now is the right time for new leadership at Target.”

Chief financial officer John Mulligan, who testified on Target’s behalf during congressional hearings about the data breach, was named interim president and CEO.

Roxanne Austin, a current member of Target’s board, was appointed interim nonexecutive chairman. Both will serve in those roles until permanent replacements are named, according to a statement by the board, which added that Steinhafel has agreed to serve in an advisory capacity during the transition.

Steinhafel’s departure was announced the same day that Bob DeRodes took over as chief information officer at the retail company, replacing Beth Jacob, who resigned in early March.

DeRodes came to Target with more than 40 years of experience in information technology and data security, and has been senior information technology advisor for the Department of Homeland Security, the secretary of the Department of Defense and the Justice Department.

“I look forward to helping shape information technology and data security at Target in the days and months ahead,” DeRodes said. “It is clear to me that Target is an organization that is committed to doing whatever it takes to do right by its guests.”

DeRodes was named to the CIO post on April 29, and on that date Target also announced that, beginning in early 2015, all Target-branded credit and debit cards will be enabled with MasterCard’s chip-and-PIN solution. Instead of using a magnetic stripe, the updated cards will store data in an embedded computer micro-chip, and they will also require the use of a personal identification number (PIN), rather than a signature, for authorization.

The data breach that hit Target during the holiday shopping season has been described as the largest to infiltrate the retail industry. On December 19 the company revealed that it had been the victim of a cyberattack that resulted in the theft of at least 40 million payment card numbers. Later it revealed that other data from as many as 70 million other customers may have been exposed.

The revelations hurt Target’s sales and store traffic in the fourth quarter of 2013, with the number of transactions falling 2.7% in the year and 5.5% in the quarter.

“The last several months have tested Target in unprecedented ways,” Steinhafel wrote in his resignation letter. “From the beginning, I have been committed to ensuring Target emerges from the data breach a better company, more focused than ever on delivering for our guests. We have already begun taking a number of steps to further enhance data security, putting the right processes and systems in place. With several key milestones behind us, now is the right time for new leadership at Target.”

Steinhafel spent 35 years with Target, starting as a merchandise trainee in 1979. He held a number of merchandising and operations positions before being named president of Target in 1999. He was named CEO in May 2008 and chairman in February 2009, succeeding Bob Ulrich.

In its statement, Target’s board said it appreciated Steinhafel’s “significant contributions and outstanding service throughout his notable 35-year career with the company,” and praised the way he responded to the data breach. “He held himself personally accountable and pledged that Target would emerge a better company,” the board said. “We are grateful to him for his tireless leadership and will always consider him a member of the Target family.”