Staffing
Chipotle names Scott Boatright to CEO role
November 12, 2024
Chipotle Mexican Grill has appointed Scott Boatwright as chief executive officer and a member of the board. Prior to being named Interim CEO in August to replace Brian Niccol, Boatwright served as chief operating officer, reporting directly to the company's CEO since 2017.
"We conducted a thorough and rigorous external search process that confirmed Scott is absolutely the best person to lead the next stage of growth at Chipotle," Scott Maw, Chipotle's chairman of the board, said in a company press release. "Today's announcement is an affirmation of both Scott's leadership capability and our internal succession planning process. The board overwhelmingly believes Scott will deliver on the key strategies in place and position the company for continued success."
Responsible for more than 125,000 employees and over 3,600 restaurants, Boatwright has been a driving force in improving the company's overall guest experience. In addition to contributing to the strategy and growth of the business, he led the integration of new technology into restaurants, built a strong culture aligned to the organization's values and achieved industry-leading retention rates yielding impressive outcomes and improvements in throughput, according to the release.
"It is an honor to serve as the CEO of this purpose-driven brand and I look forward to providing greater opportunities for our employees, generating value for our shareholders and Cultivating a Better World for our communities," Boatwright said in the release. "I am passionate about our menu and energized by our people, and believe that I, along with our esteemed bench of tenured leaders, will deliver on our priorities and achieve our long-term growth goals."
Prior to Chipotle, Boatwright, who keynoted the Fast Casual Executive Summit in 2020, spent 18 years with Arby's Restaurant Group in various leadership positions. He last served as senior vice president of operations, where he was responsible for the performance of more than 1,700 Arby's restaurants in numerous states.
