MINNEAPOLIS – Target Corp. announced that is promoting John Mulligan, the company’s chief financial officer, to the newly created role of executive vice president and chief operating officer, effective September 1.

Mulligan will assume oversight of stores, supply chain and properties.

Succeeding Mulligan as executive vice president and CFO will be Cathy Smith, who previously worked as executive vice president and CFO at Express Scripts, the nation’s largest pharmacy benefit manager. The 51-year-old Smith has also held CFO positions at Walmart International and GameStop. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an MBA from the University of Southern California.

Mulligan has worked at Target since 1996, initially as a financial analyst. He has served as the company’s CFO since 2012. In mid-2014, Mulligan led the company as the retailer’s interim president and chief executive officer while continuing to serve as CFO.

Throughout his tenure at Target, Mulligan has served in key leadership positions in finance and human resources, including director of Target.com finance, director of capital investments, vice president of pay and benefits, vice president of financial planning and analysis, and senior vice president of treasury and accounting.

“John has unparalleled expertise in Target’s business and I am very pleased that he will be assuming this new leadership position,” remarked Brian Cornell, Target’s chairman and CEO. “Bringing together key operations functions under John will put Target on a more progressive path to transformation and help us break down barriers to deliver improvements across our business.”

Mulligan said that he was looking forward to his new role. “Integrating operations will help further fuel Target’s transformation, and as COO I’ll prioritize driving improvements in the fundamental areas of our business and equipping the team to move quickly. By working strategically across the enterprise, we will build on the critical capabilities that will fuel Target’s differentiation in the marketplace. Achieving operational excellence is foundational to Target’s long-term success.”