CHICAGO — Tabassum Zalotrawala has been named senior vice president and chief development officer of McDonald’s USA, effective April 24.

“This role has been purposefully elevated to the US SLT (senior leadership team) as we prioritize development as part of our Accelerating the Arches strategy,” said Joe Erlinger, president of McDonald’s USA. “Having spent the past five years investing our capital and energy in modernizing our business, we’ve earned the right to build new restaurants and set aggressive goals, and Tabassum is the right leader to advance our ambitions.”

Ms. Zalotrawala most recently was chief development officer at Chipotle Mexican Grill for the past four years. Earlier, she spent more than seven years at Panda Restaurant Group, first as vice president of design, construction, facilities and strategic sourcing and then later as chief development officer. She also worked at Arby’s Restaurant Group.

She received a bachelor’s degree in interior design at American Intercontinental University and completed the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program.