Consumer PR Lead (12 month FTC)

Company Description:

McDonald’s has run its business in the UK since 1974 and currently operates over 1500 restaurants across the UK and Ireland, serving almost four million customers each day. McDonald’s is one of the UK’s largest private sector employers, employing over 170,000 people.

Hybrid Working
This role is based in our East Finchley office working 3 days in the office and 2 days remotely

Job Description:

The Opportunity 

We are on the hunt for an experienced comms professional to lead Consumer PR in the UK and Ireland. From high profile influencer and celebrity partnerships, to highjacking the cultural calendar to maintain and build McDonald’s relevance, this is a varied and exciting role with lots of scope for creativity, strategic thinking and smart execution. You will oversee the delivery of our consumer plan in 2025 and develop our approach for 2026 - with the aim to earn us space for the stories we tell across the McDonald’s business - from new menu items to promotions, from our people storytelling to partnerships. 

Examples of this work include: 

• The Meal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5x14gOJAPk  
• McFleet https://www.redconsultancy.com/case-studies/mcdonalds-mcfleet/ 
• The launch of Makin’ It https://www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb/latest/makinit.html 

This is a FTC maternity cover role. 

What will my accountabilities be?
Consumer PR

• Develop and lead the day-to-day consumer PR plan; responsible for all proactive PR for brand, products, offers and marketing campaigns 
• Oversee a busy and switched on press office across key areas including Family, Value and Menu campaigns 
• Provide PR power and magic to key marketing moments and promotional priorities 
• Ground our consumer plan in cultural relevance, to engage our audiences in a meaningful and exciting way which align with the McDonald’s brand to drive fame, affinity and trust
• Be passionate about McDonald’s role in society - telling our community stories, from our support of the Ronald McDonald House Charities to Children in Need and our Fun Football programme
• Work on cross functional teams to ensure alignment across multiple internal departments 

Media 

• Deliver a demonstrable commercial benefit to the business through owned & earned media, with activity underpinned by clear framework of KPIs and Return On Marketing (ROMs). 
• Manage editorial content across owned and earned media.
• Integrate digital adoption KPIs into PR, social and event activations
• Support on press office enquiries and crisis communications when necessary (including out of hours / weekend rota which runs across the Impact team)

Activations and talent

• Responsible for our McFleet (mobile McDonald’s on the road) to highjack the cultural calendar; allowing us to show up at VIP parties, festivals, sporting events and create amazing experiences for our customers and crew 
• Lead our work with talent, influencers and content creators, and own our influencer strategy and approach   

Brand Reputation

• Collaborate with Marketing and Customer Services to manage the reputation of the brand in the UK on social media including owned assets. 
• Brand protection through identification of potential risks developing online through social listening, media analysis and reporting.

Social Media:  

• Close liaison with social owners in Marketing for ‘always-on’ social media and social strategy
• Collaboration on Impact owned social media channels

Customer experience:  

• Close alignment with Customer Experience team to ensure consistency in customer-facing messaging & customer services.

Agency relationships

• Manage all Consumer PR agency relationships on behalf of McDonald’s UK and support McDonald’s Ireland activity 
• Manage one direct report seconded full time from our agency 
• Allocate and manage a significant budget across multiple agencies to deliver our plan

What Team will I be a part of?
You will be part of the Impact (communications) team.

Who are my customers?

• The wider Impact department: Corporate Comms, Government Relations, Internal and ESG 
• Internal audiences:  working with a range of departments across the business including Marketing, Operations, Legal, Finance, Supply Chain, People, Franchising
• External audiences: media, consumers and stakeholders, talent and celebrities 

Qualifications:

• Strong consumer comms background (agency or inhouse) - working in a busy environment ideally in food and drink or hospitality sector
• Must be experienced in leading teams and agencies; writing briefs; providing creative direction; managing multiple agencies day-to-day 
• Significant experience in contract negotiations and talent management
• Extensive budget management
• Strong presenter - with the ability to ‘sell’ ideas and plans internally 
• An understanding of how to engage wider audiences in our campaigns e.g. internal audiences
• Experienced in event management
• Strong understanding of media and great contacts
• The ability to synthesize information quickly 
• Adapt quickly and easily to new or changing conditions 

Additional Information:

Company Vision and Culture

Our Global vision is to build a better McDonald’s and in the UK and Ireland we are working hard to be the UK & Irelands best-loved restaurant company.

McDonald’s is defined by its culture. Our culture shapes and informs everything we think and everything we do. Our culture influences the way we interact with each other, and how we interact with customers, franchisees and suppliers. Our culture motivates and inspires us to attract and retain great talent, creating positive, energising, exceptional working environment for us all.

Our values drive our culture and shape our beliefs, our priorities and our actions. They influence the decisions we make, how we treat one another and how we show up as a brand to the world.

Serve: We put our customers and our people first
Inclusion: We open our doors to everyone
Integrity: We do the right thing
Community: We are good neighbours
Family: We get better together

At McDonald’s we are People from all Walks of Life... 

People are at the heart of everything we do, and they make the McDonald’s experience. We embrace diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive culture that means people can be their best authentic self in our restaurants and offices, which helps us to better serve our customers. We have a strong heritage of diversity and representation within our communities, which we are proud of. The diversity of our people, customers, Franchisees and suppliers gives us strength.

We do not tolerate inequality, injustice or discrimination of any kind.  These are hugely important issues and a brand with our reach and relevance means we have a very meaningful role to play.

We also recognise our responsibility as a large employer to continue being active in our communities, helping to develop skills and drive aspirations that will help people to be more aware of the world of work and more successful within it, whether with McDonald’s or elsewhere."

#LI-Hybrid