CHICAGO — McDonald’s Corp. has promoted Cesar Piña to senior vice president and chief supply chain officer, North America, effective Oct. 1, 2024. He will succeed Bob Stewart who is retiring from the position.
In this role, Piña will continue to work on advancing supply chain resiliency across the McDonald’s system of owner/operators, employees and suppliers.
“Cesar has made significant contributions across his 10-year McDonald’s career to drive meaningful change to our global supply chain and the system at large, and there is no doubt that he is the right leader to carry forward McDonald’s priorities,” said Marion Gross, executive vice president and global chief supply chain officer. “His extensive industry experience in driving business results matched with his strong learning aptitude and passion for advancing a culture of collaboration makes him uniquely suited to shepherd the North America supply chain team into the future.”
Before taking this position, Piña was corporate vice president of global strategic sourcing for food (GSSF) at McDonald’s since September 2022. He has held various quality system and supply chain director roles since joining the company in 2014.
“At this moment in time of rapid change, balancing the needs of today with the expectation to drive long-term positive results means there has never been a more important time to prioritize business resiliency,” Piña said. “The scale and resources of McDonald’s matched with the power to convene suppliers, NGOs, academia and government stakeholders put us in a unique position to help build a resilient food supply chain.”
Some of Piña’s supply chain initiatives include developing a deforestation-free beef supply chain in Latin America and stewarding global food and beverage commercial partnerships. His work helped McDonald’s with supply chain business plans for 80 markets.
Prior to working at McDonald’s, Piña held quality systems roles at General Mills and McClement Management Group.
He received his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign.
Stewart has worked for McDonald’s Corp. for more than 30 years in various supply chain roles.
“From his significant contributions of digitalizing McDonald’s supply chain to managing the most unprecedented supply chain challenges of our time, Bob has shown unwavering commitment to delivering the highest standards of supply chain excellence,” the company said.
Stewart posted on LinkedIn regarding his October retirement.
“The teamwork through some of the most complex and unprecedented supply chain challenges of my time and the ‘high-fives’ through successful supply chain initiative launches have made every day under the Arches a joy,” he said. “It has been an honor to work alongside such talented, dedicated, and inspiring individuals. Together, we have navigated hurdles, celebrated successes, and harnessed the power of our McDonald’s global scale to deliver value locally that I am immensely proud of.”
