Fiesta Restaurant Group, Inc, parent company of the Pollo Tropical and Taco Cabana, announced Monday that it has appointed Hope Diaz as the company’s Chief Marketing Officer, effective September 16. Diaz is a highly successful marketing executive with over 20 years of proven experience focused on developing bold and effective brand strategies and marketing campaigns. She will be based in the company’s Miami office.

Fiesta president and Chief Executive Officer Richard Stockinger says, “We are thrilled that Hope has joined Fiesta. She possesses outstanding leadership capabilities and brings to us significant experience and expertise in marketing and brand analytics which she previously utilized to successfully evolve Popeyes’ and Burger King’s brand identities. Being a Miami native, Hope is very familiar with our Pollo Tropical brand and its potential. Her initial efforts will be focused on bringing its marketing and branding initiatives to the next level.”

Before joining Fiesta, Diaz held a variety of leadership roles at Restaurant Brands International, one of the world’s largest quick-service restaurant companies, which owns Burger King, Tim Hortons, and Popeyes. Most recently, she was the Global Chief Marketing Officer at Popeyes where she led all global marketing efforts, including the brand’s visual identity and restaurant image initiatives. During her tenure at Burger King, she served as Head of Marketing Communications for North America, as well as Head of Global Innovation & Guest Understanding. In that role, she spearheaded all global Insights projects, including research and analytics. Before joining Restaurant Brands International, she was the Director of Research & Strategic Planning at MTV Networks Latin America, where she was responsible for all programming research for MTV Latin America, Nickelodeon Latin America, and VH1 Latin America.

Diaz has an undergraduate degree in International Finance & Marketing and an MBA with a concentration in International Business from the University of Miami.