Elior North America, a leading food service operator, has announced Rafael Robert as its new chief human resources officer. A seasoned industry veteran, Robert brings more than 25 years of leadership experience from major retail brands, including Toys “R” Us, Conn’s HomePlus, and beeline Group, North America, where he played a key role in growing both corporate and field operations. In his new position, Robert oversees 16,000 employees across Elior’s 13 companies including K-12 by Elior, Aladdin Campus Dining, and Cura Hospitality.
“The appointment of Rafael Robert underscores Elior’s commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce while driving our long-term growth strategy,” says Maximilien Pellegrini, CEO of Elior North America. “With decades of leadership experience in HR across major industries, Rafael is ideally positioned to lead HR efforts and support our goals of employee recruitment, development, and retention.”
Robert’s experience with growing the workforce behind some of the nation’s most iconic retail companies serves as a strong foundation to work closely with Elior’s executive team in executing the brand’s five-year vision.
“I’m thrilled to join Elior North America at this pivotal stage of growth,” says Robert. “Our mission is to invest in and empower our employees to provide white glove service to clients across a variety of sectors. I greatly respect and support our employees, many of whom are frontline workers serving millions of meals per day to our customers. As part of my role, I’m excited to develop an HR roadmap that bolsters our employment brand, employee development programs, total rewards offerings, and strong safety culture.”
Originally from Puerto Rico, Robert moved to the United States to attend Syracuse University before launching his corporate career, first in operations followed by human resources. He has held positions at corporations including Office Depot and Office max before joining Toys “R” Us in 1995 and becoming the director of human resources in the East and Southeast regions of the brand. After 17 years with the brand, Robert then transitioned to becoming the head of HR at beeline Group, developing the brand’s internal organizational structure before becoming the vice president of HR and CHRO at Conn’s HomePlus.
