Director, Restaurant Hardware Solutions

Company Description:

McDonald's evolving Accelerating the Arches growth strategy puts our customers and people first and demonstrates our competitive advantages to strengthen our brand. We are recognized on lists like Fortune’s Most Admired Companies and Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies.

Doubling Down on the 4Ds (Delivery, Digital, Drive Thru, and Development)

Our growth pillars emphasize the critical role technology plays as the best-in-class, global omni-channel restaurant brand. Technology enables the organization through digital technologies, and improving the customer, crew and employee experience each and every day!

Global Technology forging the way

Leading the digitization of our business is the Technology organization made up of innovation specialists who build industry defining tech using the latest innovations and platforms, like AI and edge computing to deliver on the next set of groundbreaking opportunities for the business. We take on technology innovation challenges at an incredible scale, and work across global teams who are always hungry for a challenge! This provides access to compelling career paths for technologists. It’s bonus points when you get to see your family and friends use the tech you build at their favorite McD restaurant.

Job Description:

This opportunity is part of the Global Technology Infrastructure & Operations team (GTIO), where our mission is to deliver modern and relevant technology that supports the way McDonald’s works. We provide outstanding foundational technology products and services including Global Networking, Cloud, End User Computing, and IT Service Management. It’s our goal to always provide an engaging, relevant, and simple experience for our customers.

The Director, Restaurant Hardware Solutions, is part of the Restaurant Infrastructure & Operations team within Global Technology Infrastructure & Operations (GTIO). This role reports to the Senior Director and is responsible for leading and growing global restaurant hardware standards, with a focus on market adoption and hardware standardization. This individual will also be responsible for optimizing the hardware standards lifecycle process, from intake through standards definition, including product assessment and selection, testing, communication, and governance structure.

This is an exciting opportunity for an expert technology leader to help craft the transformation of infrastructure and operations products and services to the entire McDonalds environment.

Responsibilities & Accountabilities:

• Own the Restaurant Hardware Solutions team, providing strategic vision while balancing near-term deliverables.
• Mentor, lead, and hire a high-performing team with technical and product focus to handle the restaurant hardware product portfolio. Set clear priorities and roadmaps to achieve enterprise goals and important metrics.
• Develop and deliver a cohesive vision, strategy, and roadmap for the Restaurant Hardware Solutions team. Partner with cross-functional teams to understand and support technology / business needs through definition of evolving hardware standards and lifecycle management processes.
• Understand McDonald's landscape of restaurant hardware, store formats, market variations, planned restaurant technology innovations (e.g. Edge, IoT), and hardware management / support processes as input to defining the strategy for expansion of global restaurant hardware standards to cover the full restaurant, including bracketry and cabling.
• Understand global and regional restaurant hardware lifecycle management processes and address opportunities for optimization to reduce time, effort, cost, and resources required to define and lead restaurant hardware standards.
• Lead assessments and vendor selections to select and deploy new hardware solutions that address the needs of the evolving McDonald’s customer and restaurant environment.
• Supervise and ensure the quality, security, and usability of all restaurant hardware.
• Maintain a strategic focus while retaining an appropriate level of hands-on management.
• Partner with business leaders, technical product managers, and / or engineers to figure out long-term viability of systems/products, from business and technology standpoints.
• Communicate ideas effectively, verbally and in writing, to a wide range of audiences, including Directors and VPs. Champion a constructive dialogue, harmonize discordant views, and lead the resolution of issues.
• Develop and maintain relationships with peers to ensure alignment and remove barriers to execution.
• Decompose significantly sophisticated problems into straightforward solutions. Consistently bring strong, data-driven business and technical judgment to decisions.
• Remove bottlenecks to enable teams to work independently. Drive team members to proactively identify gaps and opportunities (e.g., services, workflows, tooling).

Qualifications:

Basic Qualifications

• 12+ years of technical product management or shown experience with a Bachelor’s degree or 8+ years relevant experience with a Master’s degree.
• 3+ years working with restaurant or retail hardware solutions and platforms.
• 5+ years of experience in leadership roles, including leading teams of employees.
• Experience leading technical teams that handle a strategically important product and/or a suite of products.
• Experience influencing senior executives (VPs, SVP, CxO), and setting expectations for major cross-functional initiatives.
• Willingness and ability to live the McDonald’s values every day: Serve, Inclusion, Integrity, Community, and Family.
• Demonstrated ability to handle technical products from an unclear problem statement, driving clarity, understanding, and opportunity assessment, handling tradeoffs and evaluating potential concepts with internal and external partners using design thinking and agile principles.
• Experience leading technical priorities and driving strategic architectural initiatives.
• Validated experience identifying and addressing customer needs through development and adoption of new or enhanced products and services.
• Experience leading product / vendor selections, from requirements gathering through contract negotiation and implementation.
• Demonstrated history of successfully delivering technology and infrastructure projects in a fast-paced environment.
• Demonstrated ability to build and grow high performing technical teams.
• Ability to manage partner expectations and resolve conflict.
• Capable of identifying and effectively addressing a diverse set of problems.
• Proficient in analyzing and quantifying data; using evidence to support assumptions, develop product strategies, and evaluate the success and value of initiatives.
• Superb written communication, presentation, and social skills, with the ability to convey sophisticated ideas in easy-to-understand business friendly language.

Preferred Qualifications

• Technical knowledge of hardware solutions, including an understanding of hardware components, systems, and technologies.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively influence and partner across departments and geographies within a global organization.
• Shown ability to navigate and achieve results within a globally distributed organization.
• Deep understanding of global complexities and differences between markets / regions
• Experience with Edge and Cloud platform design patterns and vendor platform capabilities.
• Experience handling P&L of a program and developing/leading financial forecasts to communicate return on investment and spend rate.

Additional Information:

McDonald’s is committed to providing qualified individuals with disabilities reasonable accommodations to perform the essential functions of their jobs. Additionally, if you (or another applicant of whom you are aware) require assistance accessing or reading this job posting or otherwise seek assistance in the application process, please contact recruiting.supportteam@us.mcd.com

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