Willis North America announced the appointment of a new chief operating officer this week, a newly-created role for the insurance broker’s North American offices. Former Chief Executive of Specialty Practices Eric Joost will fill the position.
The COO role is new for Willis, which expanded to New York in 1990. According to the company, the position will “lead the development and execution of Willis North America’s growth and operational strategies.” The COO also works with CEO Todd Jones oversees Willis’ 100-plus offices in the US, Canada and Mexico to improve company structure and operations.
In taking on the role, Joost will continue to lead the North American Specialty Practices division, which fine-tunes broker roles in specialized industries like construction and healthcare. Jones said Joost’s work with industry study and specialized brokers is one of the reasons for his appointment.
“[Eric’s] experience aligning our specialty practices and product capabilitiess with our business platforms combined with his strong leadership skills and client focus make him ideally suited to…improve connectively across all of Willis,” he said.
