McDonald’s has shifted several members of its executive suite through promotions, appointing Skye Anderson to the newly created role of McDonald’s USA chief operating officer, the company said this week. The chain also appointed Mason Smoot as senior vice president of global franchising and delivery, and Mattijs Backx as chief transformation and services officer.
The appointments are occurring during a time of sales growth at McDonald’s, which reported a comparable sales increase of 6.8% across the U.S. The chain has posted three consecutive quarters of same-store sales growth after focusing on value, marketing and traffic-driving limited-time offers.
Anderson will focus on bringing together core functional teams that “deliver excellence in restaurants,” as part of the newly created position.
Anderson will lead the U.S. National Operations, Restaurant Development and McOpCo teams and exercise oversight for the U.S. Supply Chain and U.S. Technology teams to create an integrated operations team.
“[Anderson’s] new role allows McDonald's USA to ensure that the systems, tools and supply needed to deliver consistently strong restaurant experiences are aligned from end to end,” the company said.
Anderson started working as the president of the chain’s global business services division in 2023. In that role, she built a new enterprise capability and scaled it globally, including in McDonald’s new offices in Hyderabad, India, and Mexico City, Mexico. She helped modernize processes and focused on speed and agility to better drive business solutions, the company said.
Anderson has worked at McDonald’s for 25 years, serving in various leadership roles in finance, field operations and market leadership. Her career includes six years as a U.S. business leader, including a spell as U.S. West Zone president.
Prior to his new role, Smoot served a chief restaurant officer for McDonald’s USA where he oversaw the chain’s Gold Standard, strengthened discipline of operations and improved the restaurant experience.
“During Mason’s tenure, the U.S. system has expanded through the addition of new and next-generation franchisees, delivered meaningful improvements across key operational metrics including record-high customer satisfaction scores, and driven significant growth in the U.S. delivery business,” the company said.
He has also served in U.S. field leadership roles and enterprise positions that supported global markets, including senior vice president, strategic alignment and chief of staff in the office of the CEO.
In his new role, Smoot will be responsible for global franchising standards, systemwide franchisee engagement and ensuring consistent execution across markets. Smoot has significant experience with operations, franchising and human resources, the company said.
Backx will join the global senior leadership team where he will lead global business services and focus on simplifying work functions, improve service delivery and ensure the right capabilities are in place to support market growth. He has been at McDonald's for about two years, serving as senior vice president of global business services transformation. He has also worked at PepsiCo, Lufthansa and Office Depot.
These executive changes come over a month after McDonald’s promoted Luis Quintiliano from managing director in Spain to U.S. national field president. During that round of executive shuffles, Loek Beckers also became senior vice president and chief financial officer for McDonald’s USA, swapping roles with Tom Dillon, who became senior vice president of corporate finance.
