Leadership

BurgerFi hires Karl Goodhew as chief technology officer

Goodhew’s hiring completes the C-suite at the newly public fast casual.
BurgerFi
Photo: Shutterstock

BurgerFi has completed its C-suite, announcing the addition of Karl Goodhew as chief technology officer Tuesday—a new role for the chain.

Goodhew comes to the newly public company after serving as director of software engineering at Macy’s Inc. He has previously worked for Home Depot, YellowPepper and JCPenney.

BurgerFi Chief Technology Officer Karl Goodhew

“Our investments in our digital platforms like our mobile application, loyalty program and online ordering capabilities positioned us well to deal with the dramatic changes in consumer behavior caused by the pandemic,” BurgerFi CEO Julio Ramirez said in a statement. “Given the increasingly important role technology plays in our ability to deliver a seamless guest experience and operate as efficiently and profitably as possible, we recognized the need to have a chief technology officer.”

Goodhew has worked for more than 15 years in engineering and software development. He will be tasked with modernizing BurgerFi’s drive-thrus, as well as boosting the chain’s mobile app.

“I am excited to build an engineering team that will enable capabilities and features in the loyalty, delivery, and payments space,” he said in a statement. “We are just starting the journey to provide a customer experience that gives the customer the best burger selections when and where they want to order, however they choose.

Last week, BurgerFi announced the hiring of marketing veteran Henry Gonzalez as chief marketing officer.

The 119-unit chain became a publicly traded company late last year when it was acquired by Opes Acquisition Corp., a Special Purpose Acquisition Company, or SPAC.

It has hired a number of executives in recent months, including CFO Michael Rabinovitch and COO Jim Esposito. BurgerFi also added lifestyle guru Martha Stewart to its board earlier this year.

 

Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.

Multimedia

Exclusive Content

Financing

Despite their complaints, customers keep flocking to Chipotle

The Bottom Line: The chain continued to be a juggernaut last quarter, with strong sales and traffic growth, despite frequent social media complaints about shrinkflation or other challenges.

Operations

Hitting resistance elsewhere, ghost kitchens and virtual concepts find a happy home in family dining

Reality Check: Old-guard chains are finding the alternative operations to be persistently effective side hustles.

Financing

The Tijuana Flats bankruptcy highlights the dangers of menu miscues

The Bottom Line: The fast-casual chain’s problems following new menu debuts in 2021 and 2022 show that adding new items isn’t always the right idea.

Trending

More from our partners