How to Hire a CEO in Hospitality & Restaurants: What Boards and Investors Should Look For

As Global Head of Research & Leadership Advisory at JRG Partners, I wrote this guide for boards and investors on how to hire a CEO in Hospitality & Restaurants. The sector is an industry where labor economics, digital and off-premise transformation, and brand experience are reshaping the leadership profile across hotels, restaurants, and food service, and the CEO profile that succeeds in it is specific: a leader who can drive multi-unit operational excellence and brand experience through labor and cost pressure while executing the digital, delivery, and loyalty transformation reshaping the customer relationship.

The Hospitality & Restaurants CEO Mandate in 2026

Before assessing candidates, boards should agree what the next three to five years demand. In Hospitality & Restaurants, that context is shaped by three forces: Labor cost and availability have made workforce and operations leadership P&L-critical. Digital ordering, delivery, and loyalty are reshaping the customer relationship and unit economics. Brand experience and consistency at scale demand sophisticated operational and marketing leadership. The right CEO is defined by which of these the company must navigate most urgently.

What to Look For in a Hospitality & Restaurants CEO

The profile that succeeds is a leader who can drive multi-unit operational excellence and brand experience through labor and cost pressure while executing the digital, delivery, and loyalty transformation reshaping the customer relationship. Concretely, boards should probe for multi-unit operations and labor-model command; digital, delivery, and loyalty strategy; brand experience and consistency at scale; franchise and development leadership where relevant.

Where Hospitality & Restaurants CEOs Come From

The strongest candidates are drawn from restaurant and hospitality companies (operations and brand depth); consumer and retail (brand and customer leadership); technology and delivery platforms (digital expertise); multi-unit and franchise businesses (scaling experience). Boards should map all of these pools rather than defaulting to obvious internal or direct-competitor candidates.

The Board’s Role in the Search

A CEO search is the board’s most consequential act. The failure patterns are consistent: mandate ambiguity that surfaces at finalist stage, over-weighting charisma over the specific capabilities the sector demands, rushing or drifting the process, and neglecting rigorous referencing under time pressure. Boards that align on the mandate in writing, run a structured assessment, and reference beyond the candidate-supplied list consistently outperform.

Compensation and Closing the Hospitality & Restaurants CEO

Compensation emphasizes cash with unit-performance and growth incentives; digital and development leadership command premiums, and private-equity-backed and franchised structures produce varied packages across the sector. The CEO package must reflect the sector’s ownership structure and the profile’s scarcity, and the close depends as much on the mandate’s credibility as on the number. Our Hospitality & Restaurants executive compensation report details the benchmarks.

Related Hospitality & Restaurants Resources

See also Hospitality & Restaurants executive search guide, Hospitality & Restaurants top 10 in-demand roles, Hospitality & Restaurants executive compensation report.

Tanya Gallardo

Managing Director, Executive Search & AI Talent Strategy

Tanya Gallardo is the Managing Director of Executive Search & AI Talent Strategy at JRG Partners, leading C-suite and Board engagements across key growth sectors including Technology, Financial Services, and Manufacturing.

With over 18 years of experience specializing in disruptive technology leadership, Tanya is recognized as a leading authority on talent architecture for future-focused executive roles, such as the Chief AI Officer (CAIO) and Chief Digital Officer (CDO). Her expertise lies in accurately assessing the cultural fit and technical depth required to ensure a high return on investment (ROI) for critical leadership appointments.

Prior to her role at JRG Partners, Tanya held senior roles directing global talent acquisition strategies at a major publicly-traded technology firm, advising on organizational design and succession planning for emerging executive functions. She is a recognized speaker and contributor to industry events, sharing data-driven insights on executive compensation, leadership development, and the measurable business impact of C-suite talent.

Connect with Tanya to discuss your executive search needs.