He takes over from outgoing managing director Jeremy Deedes, who is retiring after 17 years at the company to take on a consultancy role at the publisher.
Deedes' departure appears to have triggered a shake-up of the group's senior management.
Len Sanderson, managing director of Telegraph Sales, is also set to leave the group after 18 years' service, having lost out to Drayton in the race for the top job.
The appointment of Drayton comes on the heels of last week's news that editor Charles Moore is stepping down to make way for Martin Newland.
Moore is leaving to concentrate on a biography of Margaret Thatcher, which is thought to have been hastened because of the deteriorating state of her health since the death of her husband, Dennis.
However, the shake-up is also thought to be part of a strategy to increase the flexibility of the papers' advertising and circulation departments and simplify the group's reporting structure.
Elsewhere at the publisher, Telegraph Group consultant editor Kim Fletcher, a former editor of the Independent on Sunday and deputy editor on the Sunday Telegraph, has been promoted to the post of editorial director across both Telegraph titles, with responsibility for editorial and production.
On the advertising side, Mark Payne, deputy advertising director and commercial director of Hollinger Telegraph New Media, becomes group commercial director, with responsibility for all commercial activities, while display advertisement director Chris White-Smith takes on the new role of group sales director.
The group's is to be headed up by Tim Faircliff, who steps up from his role as operations director to become general manager of Telegraph.co.uk.
Dan Colson, deputy chairman and chief executive of Telegraph Group, said: "Jeremy Deedes has done a tremendous job as managing director for the past seven years and throughout a distinguished career with the group, helping us build on our position as market leader in very tough trading conditions."
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