In the first notable shake-up in Federal Reserve staff under Chairwoman Janet Yellen, the central bank said Wednesday that William English, the head of its powerful monetary-affairs division, would take on a new role as a senior adviser to the Fed board. Mr. English has served as head of the monetary-affairs division since 2010, helping to manage a series of tough debates inside the central bank about implementation of--and exit from--its bond-buying stimulus programs and its communication about interest rates. The Fed said Mr. English would continue to run the monetary-affairs group until a successor is named. A search will be overseen by the Fed's Committee on Economic and Financial Monitoring and Research, run by Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer, a spokeswoman said. The monetary-affairs division handles preparations the Fed makes before policy meetings every six weeks. Its chief holds one of the most powerful staff positions in the central bank. The group has seen regular turnover in recent years and what Fed insiders describe as a heavy and stressful workload. People who know Mr. English have noted he has battled some back ailments. The Wall Street Journal reported last year that Ms. Yellen clashed at times with people in the monetary-affairs group when she was vice chairwoman of the central bank between 2010 and 2014. In that role, she led outside reviews of different divisions at the Fed by consulting company Vantage Leadership Consulting. Jon Faust, director of the Center for Financial Economics at Johns Hopkins University and a former Fed adviser, said he didn't think the move signaled a major change in direction for the monetary-affairs group. He added the move could allow Mr. English to focus on an area of his expertise, which is the mechanics of managing interest rates at a time when the financial system is flooded with nearly $3 trillion of reserves. "Bill has contributed immensely to the work of the Federal Reserve," Ms. Yellen said in a statement. "During a period in which monetary policy has been faced with exceptional challenges, Bill has helped the [Fed] devise innovative strategies to achieve our dual mandate objectives and he has led the [Fed] work on policy normalization as well. I am enormously grateful for these contributions." Mr. English served in the job longer than his two immediate predecessors, Brian Madigan and Vincent Reinhart. In taking on a role as adviser, he is following the path of another predecessor, Donald Kohn. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/william-english-t...