Major restaurant chains hired executives to bolster their franchise, global impact and customer efforts this week. McDonald's hire of a chief global impact officer also coincides with the creation of a new global impact team designed to support the chain's corporate philanthropy, government relations and other initiatives.

Check out more leadership news below:

Oct. 1

Qdoba: The Mexican restaurant hired Peter Ortiz as VP of franchise development, according to a company release emailed to Restaurant Dive. Ortiz will oversee the chain's strategic franchise expansion across key markets in the U.S. and Canada, and brings more than 30 years of executive-level experience to the brand. He previously led franchise development most recently at Potbelly, as well as Moe's Southwest Grill, Carvel Ice Cream and Schlotzsky's. While at Potbelly, Ortiz nearly doubled the restaurant's franchise footprint through multi-unit deals. Ortiz joined Qdoba in August and has been working with experienced franchisee groups interested in franchising in key markets. 

McDonald's: The Golden Arches created a new Global Impact Team and hired Katie Beirne Fallon as executive vice president and chief global impact officer to oversee this department. Fallon, who most recently served as executive vice president of global corporate affairs at Hilton, "will bring together key functions across the company critical to achieving McDonald's purpose to feed and foster communities, including government relations, communications, sustainability and oversight for the company's corporate philanthropy and ESG strategy," the release states. 

Sept. 30

Panera: The cafe chain tapped Lauren Cody as chief of staff and chief customer officer, according to a company release. Cody has more than two decades of foodservice industry experience and has extensive general management, strategy creation and execution experience in the U.S. and abroad. 

Cody previously worked at McDonald's for 13 years, where she held the position of managing director for the Norwegian market and VP of strategy and insights for the U.K., as well as most recently corporate VP, where she oversaw global consumer and business insights. Cody has also worked at Burger King.

Sept. 28

Golden Chick: The 193-unit chain named Howard Terry chief marketing officer effective immediately, according to QSR Magazine. Terry has been president of sister chain Texadelphia since 2018. Previously, Terry has worked at Raising Cane's, Mooyah Burgers and Denny's.