Head of Marketing – Category, Calendar & Media

As Head of Marketing – Category, Calendar & Media, you’ll play a pivotal role in shaping how McDonald’s shows up for customers across the UK & Ireland. Sitting within the senior Marketing leadership team and reporting to the Chief Marketing Officer, you’ll lead the strategic development of our category plans, marketing calendar and media investment ensuring we focus on what matters most to our customers and our business.

This role balances long-term strategic thinking with operational rigour. You’ll bring clarity, prioritisation and pace to complex marketing plans, ensuring they are insight-led, commercially focused and deliver meaningful impact year after year.

About the team You’ll join a dynamic, fast-paced Marketing team of 40+ people who are highly connected across Operations, Supply Chain and Business Insights. The team is results-driven, collaborative and thrives in a high-energy environment moving quickly, working cross-functionally and enjoying what they do along the way.

About the role You’ll lead marketing calendar planning, media strategy and agency relationships, with accountability for one of the largest media budgets in the UK. Your focus will be on increasing return on marketing investment and long-term brand value, ensuring marketing spend delivers against both commercial and brand objectives.

While supported by Global Marketing colleagues, this role operates with a high degree of autonomy and a significant reliance on agency partnerships requiring confident leadership, clear direction and strong judgement in a fast-moving, highly visible environment.

Key responsibilities

• Leading the development of annual food category plans, partnering closely with insights and strategy teams to shape Family and Value strategies.
• Synthesising category plans into a single, integrated marketing calendar, ensuring clear prioritisation across campaigns, channels and dayparts.
• Owning the overall marketing plan, tracking performance against key metrics and adapting plans as market conditions evolve.
• Setting media strategy and guiding investment to maximise effectiveness and return on marketing spend.
• Leading agency partnerships, particularly media agencies, to ensure high performance and strong accountability.
• Collaborating cross-functionally across Marketing, CX, Menu, CBI and Operations to ensure plans are operationally sound and customer-first.
• Influencing and engaging Franchisees, Co-op partners and senior internal stakeholders to build confidence and alignment behind marketing priorities.
• Leading and developing a high-performing team of senior Marketing Managers, setting clear ways of working and a strong team culture.

What will make you successful

We’re looking for a commercially minded marketing leader with deep media expertise and a strong strategic planning background, who thrives in a fast-paced, matrixed environment.

You’ll bring:

• Proven experience leading large-scale media strategies and managing significant marketing budgets
• Strong commercial acumen, with the ability to drive value and make evidence-based investment decisions
• Experience using econometric models to optimise media performance and inform strategy
• Confidence influencing senior stakeholders, including C-suite leaders and Co-op Directors
• Experience leading and challenging agency partners, particularly media agencies
• A track record of delivering at pace, with clear accountability to deadlines
• Inclusive leadership skills, with the ability to build trust, develop talent and bring people with you

What you’ll get

• A senior leadership role with real influence over one of the UK & Ireland’s most iconic brands
• Competitive salary, plus bonus and cash allowance
• A comprehensive benefits package including free parking, lunch and gym access
• Hybrid working, offering flexibility between home and office
• Access to industry-leading training and development, supported by significant annual investment in learning
• A collaborative, inclusive culture where your voice matters and your impact is visible