McDonald's hires Chipotle exec to lead restaurant openings

McDonald's hired a new executive in the U.S. to help with the fast-food chain's accelerated restaurant opening plan. The Chicago-based company has named Tabassum Zalotrawala as its new senior VP and chief development officer. She will start on April 24 and report to U.S. President Joe Erlinger. Zalotrawala was most recently chief development officer at Chipotle Mexican Grill, and has led real estate development for other restaurant brands. The role of chief development officer existed previously, but has been elevated to the U.S. senior leadership team. Zalotrawala's predecessor retired. See all of Ad Age's 2023 Agency A-List winners here McDonald's announced a new growth plan in January called “Accelerating the Arches 2.0.” The company said the plan will create new leadership roles, better solve customer problems, push innovation out and reduce work to create efficiencies. It will also speed up the rate at which it opens restaurants. Executives said during its most recent earnings call that McDonald's expects to open 1,900 locations worldwide this year, more than 400 of which will be split between the U.S., Australia and a handful of European countries. It will mark the first time the hamburger chain has grown its U.S. store count since 2014. The company also plans to deprioritize certain initiatives, which it has not specified. That will result in job cuts, which should be finalized by April 3. Ad Age Leading Women and Rising Stars Last call for the annual awards Enter here

McDonald's hires Chipotle exec to lead restaurant openings

Featured Stories