Shake Shack CFO adds job title of president to role

Dive Brief:

Tara Comonte, CFO of Shake Shack since 2017, has added the position of president to her job title, the company said Wednesday.
In Comonte's new CFO-president role, she will "increase her strategic leadership and operational responsibilities as Shake Shack continues to rapidly expand both domestically across the United States and internationally, including first-in-market openings earlier this year in Mainland China and Mexico," the company said.
As president, Comonte will focus on "scaling infrastructure, broadening support and guidance across day-to-day operations, and ensuring the successful execution of the company's strategic priorities." As CFO, she will continue her existing responsibilities overseeing finance, accounting, technology, internal audit and legal, the company said.

Dive Insight:

Comonte's promotion is an unusual move. CFOs do not commonly add the president title (as opposed to vice president of finance). The president's duties are most likely to overlap with those of chairman, CEO or principal.

For some companies, the president leads the C-suite, but in most corporate environments, the president leads a certain segment or subset of the company, such as president of consumer products or president of international affairs.

The CEO is occasionally also the president, and in small businesses, the owner often presides. But most commonly, the president serves the purpose of the chief operating officer. In a company with a CEO, the president is typically the second in command.

At Shake Shack, Comonte is expected to focus on international expansion and the management and operations of its international business.

On the company's last earnings call in July, Comonte reported on expansion plans and the company's financials. The company has "very solid momentum across the business heading into the second half of the year as we continue to execute against our key strategic initiatives," she said. She also outlined the company's plans for growth, saying "our focus is anchored on domestic and international expansion while investing in our teams and infrastructure to enable us to grow and scale for the long term."

Shake Shack did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication.