Caterpillar names Joseph Creed as new COO

Caterpillar has appointed Joseph E. Creed, group president of energy & transportation, to the newly created position of chief operating officer, effective Nov. 1, 2023. Creed will report to Jim Umpleby, chairman and chief executive officer.

Creed's replacement as group president of Energy & Transportation will be named at a later date and will also report to the chief operating officer.

"Joe's extensive financial experience across Caterpillar's engine and machine businesses, combined with his leadership of our Energy & Transportation segment, position him well for his new role," Umpleby says. "Joe will help lead the continued execution of our strategy for profitable growth and pursue the market opportunities associated with the energy transition and growing global energy demand."

Creed joined Caterpillar in 1997 and has held numerous positions of increased responsibility across multiple divisions of Caterpillar. He was promoted to chief financial officer for Caterpillar's energy & transportation business segment in 2013, then to vice president of Caterpillar's finance services division in 2017. Creed also served as interim chief financial officer for Caterpillar in 2018. He then became vice president of the oil & gas and marine division and the electric power division. In 2021, he was promoted to group president of energy & transportation.

Creed graduated from Western Illinois University with a bachelor's degree in accounting. He completed Caterpillar's flagship executive leadership program conducted by Stanford University specifically for Caterpillar leaders, dealers and suppliers. He is a certified public accountant.

Creed serves on the Western Illinois University President's National Advisory Council, is an executive board member of the Caterpillar Foundation, and is the executive sponsor of the Caterpillar Employee Resource Group known as ADEPT (Abled and Disabled Employees Partnering Together). He is also a member of the board and past chairman for Easterseals of Central Illinois.

Elsewhere in the company, Caterpillar also promoted George Moubayed, current senior vice president of the enterprise strategy division, as the chief sustainability and strategy officer, effective Jan. 1, 2024.

Moubayed succeeds chief sustainability officer Lou Balmer-Millar, who is retiring on Dec. 31, 2023, after over 20 years of dedicated service. In his capacity as chief sustainability fficer, Moubayed will report directly to Umpleby.

"George has a breadth of enterprise perspective and experience in executing our strategy for long-term profitable growth," Umpleby says. "Sustainability is an integral part of this strategy as we help our customers achieve their climate-related objectives and build a better, more sustainable world."

Moubayed has held several leadership positions in more than 25 years with Caterpillar. Prior to his role within the enterprise strategy division, he was vice president and general manager of load and haul products for Resource Industries, and previously served as vice president for aftermarket solutions for the segment. He has a bachelor's degree in engineering from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.