Whataburger appointed Janelle Sykes as its new Chief Financial Officer and SVP. A San Antonio native, Sykes is a seasoned executive who worked the last 30 years at Alamo City-based C.H. Guenther & Son, most recently as CFO.

During her tenure at C.H. Guenther, Sykes not only oversaw all aspects of accounting, tax, treasury and internal audit, she also helped with the due diligence, financing and change management involved with 10 acquisitions.

Sykes’ first day on the job at Whataburger is Monday, February 10. Whataburger’s president Ed Nelson, who previously served as the company’s CFO, says Sykes has the business mind and people heart that matches the brand’s values.

“Whataburger is growing and expanding, and Janelle has deep knowledge and experience around a wide range of business areas—not just finance—that will help the brand reach new heights,” Nelson says. “Janelle also embodies Whataburger’s core values and practices people-centered leadership, which is extremely important to our company as we serve our 45,000 Family Members and 14 million customers.”

To further strengthen its leadership team, Whataburger recently promoted Sylvester “Sly” J. Johnson to Vice President, Chief Data and Analytics Officer (CDAO). Johnson previously served as Whataburger’s Chief Accounting Officer for the last four years.

Johnson will oversee the strategic development for Whataburger’s data analysis and reporting across the entire enterprise.

“Sly has been a trusted member of our Strategy Council and leadership team and well loved by our Family Members for being personable and energetic,” Nelson says. “Sly’s ability to analyze and synthesize data and explain it in a way that people can understand is incredible. In this new role, he will be critical to helping Whataburger unlock the value of our data and put it to use as we continue to serve our loyal customers and attract new ones.”