Director, Enterprise Architecture

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Date: Nov 13, 2026

Location: Chicago, IL, US, 60607

Company: McDonald's Corporation

Company Description: 

McDonald’s is proud to be one of the most recognized brands in the world, with restaurants in over 100 countries that serve 70 million customers daily. We continue to operate from a position of strength. Our updated growth strategy is focused on staying ahead of what our customers want and realizing further growth potential. Our relentless ambition is why McDonald’s remains one of the world’s leading corporations after almost 70 years. Joining McDonald's means thinking big and preparing for a career that can have influence around the world. 

At McDonald’s, we see every day as a chance to create positive impact. We lead through our values centered on inclusivity, service, integrity, community and family. From support of Ronald McDonald House to our Youth Opportunity project and sustainability initiatives, our values keep us dedicated to using our scale for good: good for our customers, people, industry and planet. We also offer a broad range of outstanding benefits including a sabbatical program, tuition assistance and flexible work arrangements. 

Department Overview

The Enterprise Architecture (EA) function at McDonald's guides our global technology strategy by maximizing enterprise leverage, aligning investments to strategic goals, and simplifying the technology landscape. The function is accountable for shaping enterprise technology decisions, driving convergence and reuse, and preparing McDonald's for the future of AI and other emerging technologies.

As a Director of Enterprise Architecture, you will be a key leader within this function. You will lead a high-performing team of architects focused on forward-looking strategy and enablement. This role requires a leader who can execute the EA vision, drive accountability, and foster a culture of "guardrails over gates" to empower our engineering teams. You will ensure the EA practice operates as a connected, influential, and strategic partner to the entire organization.

Duties

Shape Enterprise Technology Strategy

  • Own the development and stewardship of the forward-looking enterprise technology vision, including principles, capability maps, current and target-state architectures, and multi-year roadmaps.
  • Lead your team to define and maintain standards, reference architectures, and patterns that enable engineering teams to build and scale confidently.
  • Act as a trusted advisor to business and technology leadership, translating technology strategy into clear business value, risk mitigation, and financial impact.
  • Anticipate technology shifts, lead the evaluation of emerging innovations like Generative AI, and guide their strategic adoption across the enterprise.

Drive Enterprise Leverage and Simplification

  • Champion a simplified and globally consistent technology ecosystem by identifying opportunities for convergence, reuse, and investment optimization.
  • Establish and manage processes for creating visibility into our technology landscape, including portfolio rationalization and technical debt heatmaps.
  • Ensure that technology decisions are optimized for enterprise value, preventing duplicative capabilities and fragmented investments.

Guide Investment and Ensure Strategic Alignment

  • Influence product and platform roadmaps to ensure they align with the enterprise target state and leverage shared capabilities.
  • Establish and operate a lightweight governance model that ensures strategic fit, interoperability, and avoidance of vendor lock-in.
  • Implement an accountability framework to measure the adoption of the target state, surface material deviations, and provide leadership with a fact-based view for decision-making.

Build and Lead a High-Performing EA Practice

  • Recruit, mentor, and develop a world-class team of enterprise architects, closing capability gaps and fostering deep domain expertise and strategic skills.
  • Build a culture of accountability and enablement, setting clear expectations and empowering your team to make a significant impact.
  • Establish a highly connected and collaborative operating model, ensuring strong alignment with teams across the organization (e.g., Product, Engineering, Data, Infrastructure, Security).

Qualifications

  • Education: Bachelor’s or master’s degree in computer science, computer engineering, system analysis, or a related field of study, or equivalent experience.
  • Professional Experience:
    • 10+ years of progressive technology experience, with at least 5+ years in a leadership role responsible for enterprise-level architecture, technology strategy, or platform engineering in a global, matrixed organization.
    • Proven track record of leading a significant transformation or rebuilding of a technical function, with demonstrable success in driving large-scale change.
  • Technical Depth:
    • Deep, multidisciplinary expertise spanning several key areas: Business/Enterprise Architecture, Solution/Technical Architecture, Cloud Platforms (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS), Data/Analytics, AI/ML, DevSecOps, and Integration (APIs, Microservices).
    • Hands-on familiarity with modern tech stacks and architectural principles.
  • Leadership & Influence:
    • Exceptional ability to lead, inspire, and influence in a highly matrixed environment, driving alignment and decisions across various stakeholder groups.
    • Experience building and developing high-performing teams.

Skills

  • Strategic & Financial Acumen: Expertise in linking technology strategy to business goals, with a strong understanding of business, operating, and financial models.
  • Modern Architectural Leadership: Deep knowledge of modern EA principles focused on enablement, including "guardrails over gates," agile methodologies, and DevOps practices.
  • Communication & Stakeholder Management: Outstanding ability to communicate complex topics clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences, from engineers to senior executives.
  • Transformational Leadership: A change agent with the ability to build a new capability from the ground up and drive a culture of accountability and excellence.

Compensation

Bonus Eligible: YES

Long - Term Incentive: YES

Benefits Eligible: YES

Salary Range

The expected salary range for this role is $200k-$250k 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.

Additional Information: 

Benefits eligible: This position offers health and welfare benefits, including but not limited to comprehensive health insurance, which includes medical, prescription drug, mental health, dental and vision coverage, as well as, life insurance. 

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. 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. 


Nearest Major Market: Chicago