Valerie Ashbaugh and Whitney McGinnis are trading jobs at McDonald’s.
Ashbaugh, currently McDonald’s SVP, global commercial products and platforms, will become chief information officer for the fast-food giant’s U.S. market.
She will take over the job being vacated by McGinnis, who will step into the commercial products and platforms role.
The Chicago-based chain announced the changes in a system message on Wednesday from Joe Erlinger, president of McDonald’s USA, and Brian Rice, global chief information officer.
Whitney McGinnis | McDonald's
“As we continue to strengthen our capabilities across the system, we are committed to developing leaders who bring both market insights and global perspectives to the table,” Erlinger and Rice said in the message. “We strongly believe that great leadership is built through diverse experiences—across markets, functions and geographies.”
The changes, they said, reflect the company’s “dedication to talent development and fostering leaders with both a breadth and depth of system experience.”
Ashbaugh and McGinnis will take their respective positions on Aug. 1.
Valerie Ashbaugh | McDonald's
McGinnis has worked with McDonald’s since 2004 and as U.S. CIO guided the company’s steady addition of more technology across its nearly 14,000 locations. That includes point-of-sale, kiosks, digital menu boards, mobile ordering, back-office, human resources and training. McGinnis had previously worked in product development and engineering with McDonald’s.
Ashbaugh, meanwhile, standardized McDonald’s platforms across the globe and launched new capabilities such as loyalty, a new POS system and new ordering channels, along with the “ready-on-arrival” platform for mobile ordering. She also helped bring to market new AI capabilities.
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