James Nolan, chief executive officer of Sara Lee North American Fresh Bakery, will resign from his position, effective April 9.

No permanent replacement has been named, butCrain’s Chicago Business reports he is leaving to join a small private equity firm.

Nolan, who also served as an executive vice president of Sara Lee Corp., had been at the Downers Grove, Ill.-based company for five years and had previously worked at PepsiCo.