Name: Neel Patel

New title: VP of strategy and growth, Church’s Texas Chicken

Previous title: Strategy and analytics, Church’s Texas Chicken

Church’s Texas Chicken created a new position, vice president of strategy and growth, for Neel Patel, the company announced on Monday. Patel started in the role Monday, though according to his LinkedIn profile he has worked at Church’s in some role relating to strategy and analytics since September 2022. Prior to that, Patel worked at McKinsey, where he got experience in sales, marketing, operations and strategy. 

Patel’s role will include oversight of “strategic planning, data & analytics, and business transformation in addition to accelerating growth initiatives across all aspects of the business, including marketing, development, finance, supply chain, and international,” according to the press release. 

Since High Bluff Capital purchased the chicken chain in 2021, Church’s has renamed itself and remade its leadership team, starting with the appointment of Joe Guith as CEO in August 2022. In the following months, Church’s hired a new procurement VP, a global marketing chief and a new CFO. All of these changes are intended to support Church’s accelerated growth plans.

Church’s did not immediately respond to a request to confirm Patel’s dates of employment and job titles.