Jeff Williams, head of the Apple Watch project, is the company’s new COO—a role that has been vacant since 2011 when Tim Cook became CEO.

Williams, who has been with Apple since 1998, was most recently SVP of operations, where he oversaw supply and service operations as well as Apple’s social responsibility initiatives. The new role elevates Williams to Apple’s executive list that also includes Cook and Chief Design Officer Jony Ive.

“Jeff is hands-down the best operations executive I’ve ever worked with,” Cook said in a statement Thursday.

As part of the company’s changes at the top, Apple has also tapped Grey New York’s Tor Myhren as VP of marketing communications, set to start in 2016. Apple is also expanding the role of Global Marketing Chief Phil Schiller in the executive changes, which will see Schiller begin to oversee the Apple App Store as well.

“Schiller is the perfect pick for the App Store given his background, and (is) very important as Apple goes into its next phase of growth with the App Store front and center,” Ives said.

Read more at Reuters.

Brief Take: Analysts believe the executive changes mean that Apple is beginning to groom someone for Cook’s role, whenever he moves on, but it could also mean something very big is just around the corner for Apple.

[Image courtesy of Reuters]

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