Frances Allen has resigned as president of Jack in the Box amid a reorganization of management following the sale of Qdoba, the company said on Friday.
The San Diego-based quick-service chain also named Marcus Tom its new chief operating officer.
The changes come shortly after Jack in the Box named a new chief financial officer in Lance Tucker, meaning the company has a pair of new C-suiters under CEO Lenny Comma—who had said earlier this month that he would take the opportunity to “flatten our organizational structure” following the Qdoba sale.
Comma said that it was Allen’s idea to depart. “Frances graciously suggested the elimination of her position so that we could more quickly begin restructuring the brand’s leadership,” Comma said in a statement. “Frances was instrumental in refining the brand’s strategy and positioning, with an emphasis on improving the quality of the food and transforming the business model to be more asset light through refranchising.”
Allen said that the appointment of a new COO in Tom “is the right time for me to exit.” And she noted that the chain’s sale of Qdoba made her job redundant. Jack in the Box sold Qdoba to Apollo Global Management last month for $305 million, turning the multichain operator into a single concept with more than 2,250 locations.
“I could not in good conscience remain in position within a single-brand structure,” Allen said in a statement.
Tom has more than 15 years of experience in operations, most recently at JAB Beech, where he was senior vice president of operations at Caribou Coffee. He’d also worked with Einstein Bros. Bagels and with Starbucks.
“Marcus is an agile leader with a proven record of achieving high levels of operational excellence across large retail systems like Starbucks,” Comma said.
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.