Director, Operations Excellence- US Tech

Company Description

McDonald’s growth strategy, Accelerating the Arches, encompasses all aspects of our business as the leading global omni-channel restaurant brand. As the consumer landscape shifts we are using our competitive advantages to further strengthen our brand. One of our core growth strategies is to Double Down on the 3Ds (Delivery, Digital and Drive Thru). McDonald’s will accelerate technology innovation so 65M+ customers a day will experience a fast, easy experience, whether at one of our 25,000 and growing Drive thrus, through McDelivery, dine-in or takeaway. 

McDonald’s Global Technology is here to power tomorrow’s feel-good moments.That’s why you’ll find us at the forefront of transformative technology, exploring new and innovative ways to serve our millions of customers and spread happiness one delicious Hot Fudge Sundae-dipped fry at a time. Using AI, robotics and emerging tech, we’re digitizing the Golden Arches. Combine that with our unparalleled global scale, and we’re reshaping all areas of the business, industry and every community that is home to a McDonald’s restaurant. We face complex tech challenges every day. But that’s where our diverse and talented teams come in. They’re made up of the best and brightest from all over the globe, and they thrive in the space where feel-good meets fast-paced.  

Check out the McDonald’s  Global Technology Technical Blog to learn how technology and our global team are directly enabling the Accelerating the Arches strategy. 

Job Description

Calling all leaders with vision and change agents! Join a strong performer group of technologists as we embark on an evolution of our strategy, planning and execution function in US Technology.

The Director, Operation Excellence role reports to the Sr. Director, US Market Technology – market Alignment. This role is responsible for driving excellence across the US Technology organization, leading strategic programs for technology and driving supplier accountability across our US technology partners.

This leader will bring our most innovative and business critical technology initiatives to life via a team of end-to-end technology program managers and supplier management leads. This person will oversee a high stakes program portfolio, and they will solve for driving deeper and more deliberate supplier partnerships - developing operational processes to find efficiencies and drive accountability. Finally, this person will deeply understand the intersection of business and technology, creating KPIs and metrics to streamline operational approaches – running our US Technology function like a business.

Accountabilities & Responsibilities:

Program Management

• Lead Project and Program management, focusing on the most critical US initiatives while demonstrating a strong ability to solve sophisticated problems that have a broad impact on the function.
• Strong ability to see the macro strategy, understand collaborators and anticipate challenges, and unblock.
• Advises leadership and/or business executives at the highest levels about the project health, status and resource planning for delivering strategic business initiatives.
• Allocates appropriate resources to ensure that projects, improvements and support is/are completed within committed time, scope and budget.
• Continuously improve project management support policies, standards and procedures that can be consistently applied and demonstrated across the business in support of delivering for our collaborators.
• Ensure that lessons learned are infused into program planning & execution so that US Technology continuously improves.

Supplier Strategy

• Define & lead partner strategy for US Technology, closely working with McDonald’s Sourcing and Vendor Management Offices as well as US Technology senior leadership
• Develop and complete to multi-year supplier accountability roadmap, identifying the most fruitful work with clear outcomes and targets.

Finance, Budget & Resourcing

• Deeply understand financial approach and activities related to US Technology including, but not limited to, staffing & resourcing costs, partner fees, owner operator costs & chargeback modeling
• Partner with US Technology senior leaders so that all aligned and agreed upon work is appropriately funded; learn the financial planning process for the Function and how value is supervised.
• Understand, supervise and lead US Technology staffing included, but not limited to, new resource requirements, open roles and progress to close, interpersonal structure tracking and capacity.

Alignment & Team Collaboration

• Support a culture of teamwork through outstanding partnerships & influence to ensure alignment internally and externally to US Technology
• Ensure US Technology leadership has a ‘single source of truth,’ a transparent view of what flows through program execution, budget and resourcing.
• Spot potential conflicts or overlaps among functional leads, work with senior leaders & their teams to achieve the best outcome for the business.

Benefits eligible: Yes
Bonus eligible: Yes
Long term incentive eligible: Yes
The expected salary range for this role is $168,350 – $218,860 per year 
The above represents the expected salary range for this job requisition. Ultimately, in determining your pay, we may also consider your experience, and other job-related factors.

Qualifications

Education & Tools

• 10+ years of experience in large, technology program and portfolio management

• 5+ years experience and understanding of modern planning and strategic execution methods and agile planning processes

• Bachelor’s degree in management information systems, Business, or related field

• Master’s degree in Management Information Systems, Business, or related field preferred

• Expert user Smartsheets, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, and MS Word

Skills

• Track record of developing high performing teams

• High attention to detail and ability to consume large amounts of information across disparate artifacts/sources and optimally connect the dots

• Curious, problem solver, and a self-starter, with a consistent track record of “getting things done” and driving clear outcomes.

• Impact-minded approach, with ability to articulate goals and instill action and alignment towards reaching them

• Deep communication and influencing skills – developing effective, succinct and professional narratives that influence key leaders.

• Experience in handling budget and cost models, demonstrating strong quantitative analysis skills

• Experience leading multiple sophisticated cross-functional projects in parallel, including prioritizing major initiatives and negotiating trade-offs with business partners.

• Experience in vendor / supplier management, especially in technology and hardware domains

• Experience crafting and or implementing processes and or tools

Additional Information

Benefits eligible: This position offers health and welfare benefits, a 401(k) plan, adoption assistance program, educational assistance program, flexible ways of working, and time off policies (including sick leave, parental leave, and vacation/PTO). Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on job classification and length of employment. 

Bonus eligible: This position is eligible for a bonus, calculated based on individual and company performance.

Long term Incentive eligible: This position is eligible for stock or other equity grants pursuant to McDonald’s long-term incentive plan.

McDonald’s is an equal opportunity employer committed to the diversity of our workforce. We promote an inclusive work environment that creates feel-good moments for everyone. McDonald’s provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities as part of the application or hiring process or to perform the essential functions of their job. If you need assistance accessing or reading this job posting or otherwise feel you need an accommodation during the application or hiring process, please contact mcdhrbenefits@us.mcd.com. Reasonable accommodations will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

McDonald’s provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to sex, sex stereotyping, pregnancy (including pregnancy, childbirth, and medical conditions related to pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding), race, color, religion, ancestry or national origin, age, disability status, medical condition, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, protected military or veteran status, citizenship status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

Nothing in this job posting or description should be construed as an offer or guarantee of employment.