Do you know who Dan Riccio is? You're about to. Apple is preparing to make Riccio its new senior VP of hardware engineering, replacing the current SVP Bob Mansfield. The company announced late Thursday that Mansfield is retiring from his post, and that Riccio will be transitioned into his position over a period of several months.

"Bob has been an instrumental part of our executive team, leading the hardware engineering organization and overseeing the team that has delivered dozens of breakthrough products over the years," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. "We are very sad to have him leave and hope he enjoys every day of his retirement."

"Dan has been one of Bob’s key lieutenants for a very long time and is very well respected within Apple and by the industry," Cook continued. "Our hardware engineering team is the best engineering team on earth and will not miss a beat during the transition."

Mansfield, who has been working for Apple for 13 years—since 1999—has been involved in the engineering of a plethora of products, including the iPad and Macs. Riccio, on the other hand, is currently VP of iPad hardware engineering and has been part of Apple since 1998 when Apple acquired his previous company, Raycer Graphics.