Troy Young, the president of Hearst Magazines Digital Media, is being flagged by some insiders as the front-runner to succeed incumbent David Carey, who announced plans to step down at year end.

Carey’s other top lieutenants in the company that publishes Cosmopolitan, Elle, Esquire, Harper’s Bazaar, Good Housekeeping and Town & Country are Michael Clinton, the president of marketing, and Joanna Coles, the onetime Cosmopolitan editor-in-chief — now the company’s first-ever chief content officer. But for various reasons, neither is seen as contending for the job.

Clinton was passed over for the top job eight year ago, but turned into a trusted ally of Carey’s and was rewarded with a seat on the family-owned company’s board of directors.

Coles has a seat on the board of Snap Inc. and a role as executive producer of the TV drama “The Bold Type” and a new book, “Love Rules: How to Find a Real Relationship in a Digital World,” but is seen more as an editorial and creative steward.

Young, a former president of Say Media, has spent the past five years firing up Hearst’s digital efforts and, in 2015, was named Adweek’s Magazine Executive of the Year.

Hearst declined to comment at all on the hunt, but one source said that Hearst is quietly telling some of its top editors that the job is going to Young. Young, Clinton and Coles declined to comment.