New York financier Steven Rattner has been tapped to lead the U.S. Treasury Dept.’s auto industry bailout team, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

Rattner, 56, has been named lead adviser for the committee that will oversee reorganization efforts at General Motors and Chrysler. He will advise Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Lawrence Summers, the director of the National Economic Council, on the automakers’ turnaround progress.

According to the WSJ, Rattner is a major player in New York’s political and charity circles, but is lesser known in Washington and Detroit. A former New York Times financial reporter turned investment banker, in 2000 Rattner co-founded the Quadrangle Group, the media-focused private equity firm that he is now leaving to take the Treasury position.