DALLAS — Casual dining restaurant company home to Chili’s Grill & Bar and Maggiano’s Little Italy brands, Brinker International Inc., welcomed James Butler as the new senior vice president and chief supply chain officer.

Butler will oversee Brinker’s supply chain operations, including procurement, food safety and quality assurance, distribution and logistics, and brand program management.

“James is a visionary leader who builds collaborative, integrated teams and coaches future leaders to continually improve and drive results,” said Kevin Hochman, president and chief executive officer at Brinker International. “He will play a key role in executing on our new strategic pillars, working cross-functionally to help us improve and innovate on the core Chili’s food categories we want to win on — including burgers, fajitas, chicken crispers and margaritas — to improve our guests’ experience and increase traffic.”

Before joining Brinker, Butler led supply chain management for several restaurant brands. Most recently he served as senior vice president of KFC Supply Chain at Restaurant Chain Solutions LLC. He also previously served as vice president, strategy and integrated business planning at Georgia Pacific and as a management consultant with Deloitte Consulting LLC.

“I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and work with the Brinker teams on exciting new initiatives to help transform supply chain and procurement strategies that will drive growth, impact the bottom line and maintain operational excellence,” Butler said. “This is an exciting time for Brinker, and I’m thrilled to join the team on this new journey.”