HR Tech 2018

Coley O’Brien
Chief People Officer
The Wendy’s Company


Coley O'Brien recently took over as Chief People Officer for The Wendy’s Company on March 1, 2018. He has over 11 years of experience with Wendy’s. The past 5 years he served as Vice President of Human Resources, providing HR leadership to the company’s North American operations. Prior to that role, Coley led the training function, supporting learning systems and development of customized learning solutions for approximately 250,000 crew members, managers and multi-unit operators in over 6,500 restaurants. Coley also leads the Wendy’s HR Forum, which facilitates the identification and sharing of HR best practices across the Wendy’s Franchise system. Prior to joining Wendy’s, Coley was the Director of Retail Training for Sears Holdings Corporation, where he was responsible for the training of 150,000 salaried and hourly field associates performing both operational and consultative selling roles nationally. Coley began his career with Arthur Andersen, where he specialized in global learning strategies and training development for large organizations in retail, telecommunications, energy and pharmaceutical industries. Coley holds a Masters Degree in Instructional Systems Technology from Indiana University. He resides in Powell, Ohio with his wife Jennifer and three children.

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