Steve Provost, executive vice president and chief marketing and innovation officer of Chili's Grill & Bar

DALLAS – Brinker International, Inc. announced Steve Provost has been named executive vice president and chief marketing and innovation officer of Chili's Grill & Bar. He has been with Brinker since 2009, most recently serving as brand president for Maggiano’s Little Italy. In his new role, Provost will lead Chili’s consumer insights, culinary innovation and marketing teams.

"In looking for the right leader for our Chili's culinary and marketing teams, we were fortunate to reach within Brinker's talented senior leadership team," said Kelli Valade, executive vice president and president of Chili's. "I've had the pleasure of working alongside Steve for the past eight years. His tenure as a ‘BrinkerHead,’ coupled with his thorough understanding, experience and love of marketing, made it an easy decision for him to lead our Chili's marketing and innovation efforts."

During his tenure working with Maggiano’s at Brinker, Maggiano's drove 23 consecutive quarters of sales growth, opened new, more efficient restaurants, more than doubled profitability and increased financial returns to the highest level in the brand's history, according to a company release.

Prior to Brinker, Provost held various marketing positions as executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Quiznos, senior vice president of franchising and vice president of marketing for Kentucky Fried Chicken and chief marketing and innovation officer for Long John Silver's and A&W brands.

While Provost is transitioning to his new role at Chilis, the Maggiano's brand will be co-led by vice presidents, Genifer Gray and Larry Konecny, who have been promoted to COO and vice president and chief concept officer, respectively. 

At the end of the fiscal second quarter, ended Dec. 28, 2016, Dallas-based Brinker owned, operated or franchised 1,658 restaurants – 1,606 Chili's Grill & Bar restaurants and 52 Maggiano's Little Italy restaurants.