McDonald's Names Fairhurst Chief People Officer, Kempczinski Strategy Chief

(RTTNews) - Fast-food giant McDonald's Corp. (MCD) said Thursday that it has promoted David Fairhurst to executive vice president and chief people officer, effective October 1.

Fairhurst, who most recently served as senior vice president of international human resources and strategy, will oversee global human resources with additional responsibility for global training.

Fairhurst, 47, replaces Rich Floersch, executive vice president and chief human resources officer, who will retire effective December 31.

McDonald's also said it has appointed Chris Kempczinski as executive vice president of strategy, business development and innovation, effective October 26. He will oversee all aspects of strategy development, planning, innovation and new concepts to drive growth for the company.

Kempczinski, 46, was previously executive vice president of growth initiatives and president of international at Kraft Foods Group. Before joining Kraft Foods in 2008, Kempczinski had an eight year career at Pepsico, Inc. (PEP). Earlier in his career, he worked for Boston Consulting Group and Procter & Gamble Co. (PG).

Both Fairhurst and Kempczinski will report directly to McDonald's President and CEO Steve Easterbrook.