The owner of Outback Steakhouse has parted ways with its chief customer officer of more than two years, Michael Stutts.
The move is the result of a reorganization at Bloomin' Brands that will bring the digital team into the marketing department and put the information technology department under a functional IT leader, the company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday.
That eliminates the chief customer officer position that previously oversaw those teams, effective Dec. 20.
Stutts will receive a lump sum of $1.6 million in severance pay, the filing said.
Stutts started at Tampa-based Bloomin' in June 2019. Before that, he spent more than 10 years as a managing consultant and partner at Boston Consulting Group.
He helped guide Bloomin's virtual brand strategy, which includes the Tender Shack chicken concept.
The restructuring will bring added responsibility to CMO Danielle Vona, who was named to the position in May.
It also reflects the increasing overlap of marketing and digital in today's restaurant industry. In August, Winsgtop announced a similar shakeup of its tech department to encompass both digital and marketing functions.
Bloomin' has more than 1,450 restaurants worldwide across Outback, Carrabba's Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill, Fleming's Prime Steakhouse and the fast casual Aussie Grill.
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