Yum! Brands has announced that its chief operating officer (COO) and chief people and culture officer, Tracy Skeans, will retire after more than 25 years with the group.

Skeans will stay in her current position until late this year to support the transition process, and then she will move into an advisory role.

Yum! Brands CEO Chris Turner said: “Over a remarkable 25-year career at Yum!, Tracy has been instrumental in shaping the company’s operational excellence model, culture, talent and long-term growth strategy.”

Skeans joined Yum! in 2000 as a finance analyst and advanced through roles spanning finance, people and strategy.

At Pizza Hut, part of Yum! Brands, she held senior finance and people posts before becoming chief people officer for Pizza Hut US and later global chief people officer.

She subsequently served as Pizza Hut International president, overseeing operations in more than 85 countries.

In 2016, Skeans joined the Yum! executive leadership team as chief transformation and people officer, working on the move to a pure-play franchisor model and the company’s talent and culture agenda.

She later helped steer the business through the Covid-19 period, the integration of Habit Burger & Grill and wider transformation initiatives.

Yum! Brands is now seeking successors for both the COO and chief people and culture officer roles.

Skeans said: “Yum! has been a defining part of my career for more than 25 years, and I’m proud to have helped shape the company through some of its most important moments of growth and transformation.

“Together with the leadership team, franchisees and colleagues around the world, we’ve strengthened the business, advanced the capabilities that support our global system and reinforced a culture that makes Yum! such a special place.”

In April, Yum! Brands reported a net income of $432m in Q1 2026, an increase of 71% compared to $253m a year earlier.