ATLANTA – Jim Taylor has been promoted to president of Arby’s at parent company Inspire Brands Inc. He succeeds Robert Lynch, who has left the company after two years to lead Papa John’s International Inc. as the pizza chain’s president and CEO.

A five-year veteran of Arby’s, Taylor was most recently chief marketing officer for the company. Before that, he was senior vice president of brand advertising and activation for nearly a year. Taylor joined Arby’s as senior vice president of product development and innovation in June 2014.

Prior to joining Arby’s, Taylor spent almost four years at Darden Restaurants, Inc., most recently as senior vice president of enterprise strategy and innovation. During his time with the restaurant company, he was also senior vice president of Olive Garden brand development, director of culinary strategy for Olive Garden and director of brand management for Red Lobster.

Taylor began his career with P&G, where he held various finance and marketing leadership roles during his 15-year tenure with the company. Most recently, he was associate marketing director of global digestive wellness.

“One of the many strengths of Inspire is our development of future leaders, and we are thrilled to have Jim lead Arby’s,” said Paul Brown, CEO of Inspire Brands. “During Jim’s time at Arby’s, he has helped introduce one of the most dynamic and innovative product pipelines in our industry and has a proven track record of driving strong sales for the brand. The Arby’s business, our team members and franchisees are in great hands with Jim at the helm.”

The appointment of Taylor is the second executive hire this year for Inspire Brands, parent company of Arby’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, Sonic Drive-In and Rusty Taco. In March, Raghu Sagi joined the company as chief information officer.