Hulu is searching for a senior executive to oversee its programming, said two people familiar with the search, as the company prepares to expand with a new service of traditional cable channels in addition to its on-demand offering.

The company has reached out to a number of high-level television executives for a position called chief content officer. It is eyeing people with a track record of creating a slate of original programs, said a person familiar with the matter. That suggests the person in the job will have a broad purview, overseeing both program licensing for the new cable-like service and its older on-demand service.