News

Sonic makes 6 leadership team appointments

January 23, 2018

The leadership team at Sonic Drive-In is getting new faces, with four promotions and two new hires including:

• Christie Hale as vice president of internal audit.
• Johnny Jones as vice president of development.
• Matt Schein as vice president of operations systems and services.
• Craig Tomlin as vice president and legal counsel.
• Scot Treadwell as vice president of construction.
• Angela Wallace as vice president of tax.

Jones, Schein, Tomlin and Wallace are all veterans of the company, each with 10 to 20 years of experience at Sonic, a news release said. Treadwell is returning to Sonic after a two-year hiatus. Hale brings more than 20 years of outside experience to the brand.

 "Angela, Craig, Johnny and Matt have an impressive combined tenure of 56 years," Sonic Corp. CEO Cliff Hudson said in the release. "They are each highly respected and knowledgeable professionals who understand our business and have earned well-deserved reputations both here at Sonic headquarters and among our franchise community nationwide.

"Scot is no stranger to Sonic, having worked on our construction services team previously, and we are glad to welcome him back. We are also delighted to bring Christie on board, as her experience and restaurant background will be an asset to Sonic."

As vice president of internal audit, Hale will be responsible for the management of the internal audit function in providing independent objective assurance and consulting services to improve the company's operations. She was formerly vice president of internal audit at Ruby Tuesday, and previous to that position, spent 11 years in internal audit with Bloomin' Brands Inc.

Jones will be responsible for leadership of the franchise sales and construction teams, and for driving market planning and strategy to increase the company's unit growth. Schein will be responsible for planning, execution and implementation of operational processes and procedures for the entire  system. 

Tomlin will be responsible for the legal aspects of significant contracts involving technology and key vendors, as well as the mangement of disputes, litigation and other complex legal issues.

Treadwell will lead the architecture and engineering teams, and oversee construction teams. He was director of construction services at Sonic from 2007–2015. 

Wallace is responsible for directing and coordinating tax strategy and overseeing compliance with federal, state, local and international tax laws, as well as financial reporting related to tax matters. 

Sonic now has more than 3,500 drive-ins in 45 states. The chain opened 66 new drive-ins last year, the strongest pace in seven years.