Jamie McConnell
About Jamie McConnell
Jamie McConnell was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Sweetgreen (NYSE: SG), effective September 22, 2025; she serves as principal financial and accounting officer reporting to CEO Jonathan Neman. McConnell is 46, holds a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Southern California, and previously served as Chipotle’s Chief Accounting and Administrative Officer and VP Controller, with prior senior finance roles at Aviation Capital Group, Rent-A-Center, Allergan, and Deloitte . Company performance context: FY2024 revenue was $676.8 million versus $584.0 million in FY2023 (+16%), and FY2024 Adjusted EBITDA turned positive at $18.7 million, reflecting improved operating leverage and profitability focus .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chipotle Mexican Grill | Chief Accounting & Administrative Officer | Oct 2024–Aug 2025 | Senior leadership over accounting/admin during growth and transformation |
| Chipotle Mexican Grill | VP Controller | Aug 2018–Sep 2024 | Scaled finance operations and controls for a national restaurant brand |
| Aviation Capital Group | Senior finance/accounting roles | Not disclosed | Finance leadership in aviation leasing |
| Rent-A-Center | Senior finance/accounting roles | Not disclosed | Finance leadership in retail |
| Allergan | Senior finance/accounting roles | Not disclosed | Finance leadership in healthcare |
| Deloitte | Audit/finance roles | Not disclosed | Foundational accounting/audit experience |
External Roles
None disclosed in filings for McConnell .
Fixed Compensation
| Component | Value | Effective Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base salary | $550,000 | Sep 22, 2025 | Per Employment Agreement |
| Target annual bonus | 75% of base salary | FY2025 plan year | Based on corporate and/or individual objectives set by Board/Comp Committee |
| Role | Chief Financial Officer | Sep 22, 2025 | Principal financial and accounting officer, reports to CEO |
Performance Compensation
Company precedent for annual bonus design (guidance for assessing alignment as CFO):
- 2024 Sweetgreen Support Center Bonus Plan used two equally weighted metrics: Revenue (50%) and SGSC Bonus Adjusted EBITDA (50%), with threshold/target/max levels and discrete interpolation. Payout policy shifted to equity-heavy settlement to align executives with shareholders; actual 2024 payout was reduced to settle only the RSU portion (67.5% of target) despite 107.5% combined achievement .
| Metric | Weighting | Threshold | Target | Maximum | Actual FY2024 | Payout mechanics |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 50% | $637.9m | $668.0m | $701.4m | $676.8m (110% of target) | 60% of first 100% and 100% of excess paid in fully vested RSUs, but plan discretion reduced payout to RSU-only (67.5% of target) |
| SGSC Bonus Adjusted EBITDA | 50% | $10.4m | $22.4m | $35.7m | $25.0m (105% of target) | Same as above; combined achievement 107.5%, paid as fully vested RSUs with discretionary reduction |
Note: FY2025 plan specifics for McConnell not yet disclosed; CFO bonus will be determined against Board-approved objectives per her Employment Agreement .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| New-hire equity grant (anticipated) | Options: 300,000 shares; RSUs: 150,000 shares, under 2021 Plan |
| Vesting schedule | 4 years: 25% at 1-year anniversary; remainder in 12 equal quarterly installments, continuous service required |
| Stock ownership guidelines | Executive officers must own common stock equal to 2x annual base salary; compliance by the later of Dec 31, 2030 or 5-year anniversary of becoming an executive |
| Hedging & derivatives | Prohibited; includes collars, swaps, prepaid forwards; no trading in public options; margin accounts prohibited |
| Pledging | Prohibited without Board approval and pre-clearance from CLO; founders have a limited pledge policy. As of Apr 1, 2025, founder Jonathan Neman had 1,000,000 Class B shares pledged (context for governance), with no pledges disclosed for McConnell |
| Beneficial ownership | Not disclosed in 2025 proxy (pre-appointment). No related-party transactions or arrangements in her selection |
Employment Terms
- Agreement effective Sep 22, 2025; at-will employment with base salary $550,000 and 75% target bonus; equity grants subject to Board approval (300k options, 150k RSUs) with standard 4-year vest .
- Severance: entitled to certain severance benefits if terminated without cause or resigns for good reason, conditioned on release and compliance; full terms to be filed with Q3 2025 Form 10-Q .
- Indemnification: anticipated entry into company standard indemnification agreement .
- Clawbacks: Company maintains Dodd-Frank-compliant clawback policy and SOX 304 recoupment framework for CEO/CFO; compensation subject to recoupment upon restatements due to misconduct .
- Insider trading controls: strict hedging prohibition; pledging requires approval; timing policies for equity grants to avoid backdating/manipulation around MNPI .
Company Performance Snapshot (context for CFO alignment)
| Metric | FY 2023 | FY 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Revenues ($USD) | $584,041,000 | $676,826,000 |
| EBITDA ($USD) | -$63,633,000* | -$34,609,000* |
Values retrieved from S&P Global.*
Additional context from proxy:
- Adjusted EBITDA improved to $18.7 million in FY2024 from a loss of ($2.8) million in FY2023, illustrating progress on profitability initiatives .
- 2024 say-on-pay approval exceeded 99%, reflecting strong shareholder support of the compensation framework .
Investment Implications
- Alignment: Equity-heavy new-hire package (options and RSUs with 4-year vest) and 75% bonus target tied to Board-set objectives indicate high at-risk pay and long-term alignment; strict anti-hedging rules reinforce skin-in-the-game .
- Retention: Time-based vesting across four years and ownership guideline target (2x salary by 2030/5-year mark) create meaningful retention incentives; severance protections reduce flight risk while preserving governance via clawbacks .
- Trading signals: Expect initial Form 4 filings for equity grant and potential 10b5-1 plan adoption; monitor for any discretionary changes to equity mix or bonus metrics (e.g., revenue/Adjusted EBITDA precedent) and any pledging requests (unlikely given policy) .
- Execution risk: CFO transition from Reback to McConnell places emphasis on sustaining FY2024 momentum in revenue growth and profitability; watch Q3/Q4 commentary for metric calibration, bonus design for FY2025, and capital allocation discipline .
Citations: Appointment, compensation terms, and background ; Bonus metrics, payout mechanics, and say-on-pay ; Ownership guidelines and insider policy ; Founder pledging context ; Performance narrative .