KFC U.S. has named Jonathan Ojany as its new chief financial officer, effective May 1. He will report to Tarun Lal, president of KFC U.S., and relocate to the KFC U.S. headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky.
As CFO, Ojany will be responsible for building and executing a strategy for the KFC U.S. business, and overseeing finance plans designed to achieve growth, revenue and profit targets.
He joins KFC from The Coca-Cola Company, where he spent eight years in regional and global strategy and operational leadership roles based in Africa and the U.S. Most recently, he was VP and head of Center Strategy and Operations, where he led a wide range of global initiatives, many in conjunction with Coca-Cola’s franchise bottling partners. At Coca-Cola, he also held roles as the chief of staff to the global president, and chief operating officer as well as the head of strategy, planning, insights, and analytics for a majority of its Africa business.
Prior to The Coca-Cola Company, Ojany spent two years in the hospitality industry with Intercontinental Hotels Group as director of Global Strategy and Planning. He also has extensive strategy and management consulting experience, having spent five years at McKinsey and Company, leading teams that effectively advised clients on key strategic, operational, and transformational initiatives.
“With his extensive strategic and financial acumen and proven reputation for building and inspiring teams, I am confident Jonathan is the right leader for our Finance function and to help achieve our bold vision for the KFC brand in the U.S.,” Lal said in a statement.
Ojany has an MBA in finance and management from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and two Bachelor of Science degrees (honors), one in civil engineering and the other in architectural engineering, both from Drexel University in Philadelphia. He was also recently named a Presidential Leadership Scholar.
KFC’s previous CFO Trip Vornholt departed the company in October 2022, along with COO Monica Rothgery and director of National Field Operations Jeff Griffin. In December, KFC named a new chief development officer, Ben Dubost, and a new chief legal officer, Kate Ward, after their respective predecessors, Brian Cahoe and Melanie Bootes, departed the company. Lal came on board in July after his predecessor Kevin Hochman was named CEO of Brinker International last year.
Contact Alicia Kelso at [email protected]