Punch Taverns' chief operating officer Adrian Fawcett is stepping down on 30 March.
Fawcett, pictured with Giles Thorley, is leaving the company to join General Healthcare Group, a UK private hospital business, as its chief executive.
Punch said structures within its leased and managed businesses "are being aligned".
Deborah Kemp will replace Fawcett as managing director of the leased business.
A statement by Punch to the stock market said: "The board would like to express its gratitude to Adrian for his contribution to Punch during a time of exceptional growth and wishes him well in his new role."
Fawcett joined Punch in 2003 after spells working at Bass and Ford Motors.
He was promoted to the main board at Punch and has been in charge of the tenanted and leased part of the business.
Among his innovations at Punch has been the rolling out of Brulines across the entire estate.
Fawcett's replacement Deborah Kemp has over twenty years experience in the pub industry.
She joined Punch at its inception in 1998 and has held a number of senior positions in the group, including property director. More recently, she has been working as operations director (south) at Punch.