Network Engineer III

Date: Aug 25, 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

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 best-in-class 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. 

Reporting to the Director Global Network Security, the Senior Network Security Engineer will design, implement, and maintain the McDonald’s network security infrastructure and systems. You will play an essential role in ensuring that McDonald’s network is secured from both internal and external threat landscape.

In addition to technical expertise, the successful candidate will have excellent communication and problem-solving skills, as well as the ability to work well in a global team. This is an exciting opportunity for a motivated and talented Network Engineer to take on a key role in the organization's technology team and make a meaningful impact on its operations and success.

Duties

Global Technology is the team that is responsible for the securing of McDonald’s information assets at a global level. This role will be part of the group within Global Technology that is responsible for our critical network security services, including firewall, IPS/IDS, Content Filtering, SASE, SSE, ZTNA, VPN, NDR and DDoS.  You will work closely with market technology teams, Global Technology Risk Management teams, Global Technology Infrastructure and Operations teams, application owners, key vendors, and others to ensure the proper design, implementation and operations of McDonald’s network security platforms and services.

  • Design, implement, and operate global network security platforms that supports global, corporate and restaurant network infrastructure and operations.
  • Configure and manage firewalls, intrusion detection/prevention systems, NAC, VPN, SSE and other security platforms.
  • Collaborate with Technical Product Managers and architects and managed service partners to innovate and deliver network security and wider NIO outcomes.
  • Responsible for providing urgent support and troubleshooting for our customers outside of regular business hours.
  • Drive automation first approach to platform and configuration deployment. Adopt Infrastructure as code.
  • Produce test plan, create test cases and perform functional and non-functional testing of network security platforms.
  • Monitor and predict platform capacity and performance related issue and work with TPM to resolve it before it becomes an issue.
  • While embedding with teams, strategize, consult, and prototype alongside other engineers to implement best practices and solutions for our customers utilizing the latest network security technologies.
  • Remain up-to-date on emerging technologies and architecture and propose ways to use them in current and upcoming projects.
  • Support technical assessments and vendor selection to develop and deploy cutting edge platforms, spanning beyond traditional technologies.
  • Drive proof of concepts and conduct technical feasibility studies for business requirements.
  • Maintain comprehensive documentation for platform designs, configurations and configuration standards,, changes, and troubleshooting procedures.
  • Support the NDR/NSOC function to respond to network security Incidents in a quick and effective manner including development and testing of emergency response plans for network security incidents.
  • Effectively communicate project health, risks and issues to the program stakeholders, sponsors and management teams.
  • Resolve most conflicts between timeline, budget, and scope independently but intuitively escalate complex or consequential issues to senior management.
  • Identify and direct changes through appropriate review and approval mechanisms.
  • Drive continuous service improvements for network security platforms and processes.

Qualifications

Essential Skills:

  • Subject matter expert in Network Security Platforms such as Firewalls, NAC, IDS/IPS, VPN., NDR  and/or SASE technologies.
  • Demonstrable experience (7+ Years) with design and deployment of Network Security technologies.
  • In depth knowledge and experience (7+ years) with one or more of the following
    • Firewall (Palo Alto, Cisco, Check Point and/or Cloud Native) installation, administration and management.
    • SASE/SSE solutions such as Zscaler,  Cisco, and/or Palo Alto SASE solutions
  • 7+ years' of experience with Network technologies (Switching/Routing)
  • Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills to critically evaluate information gathered from multiple sources. 
  • Proficient in managing stakeholder expectations and conflict resolution.
  • Demonstrable strong analytic and problem-solving abilities.
  • Proven experience working in an Agile environment with a Scrum Master, Daily Scrum meetings, Backlogs, Sprints and written Stories and deliverables. Familiar with documentation process and tools, JIRA and Confluence preferred. 
  • Track record of successful automation using tools such as Ansible, Terraforms, python etc.

Desirable Skills Experience:  

  • Bachelor's degree or three years relevant experience.
  • Experience with Large Global Networks.
  • Experience with designing, deploying, and managing NAC solutions.
  • Experience in driving continuous service and process improvements and translating them into viable solutions.
  • Knowledge of networking protocols such as OSPF, BGP, VTP, TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, LAN/WAN, and VPN design.
  • Experience with network monitoring solutions.
  • Advanced ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
  • Experienced with Dev/Ops and CI/CD pipeline tools and processes are advantageous.
  • Experience in leading a 24x7x365 team.
  • Professional certifications such as CCNP Security, PCNSE, FCNSP,  CISSP, or similar.

Compensation

Bonus Eligible: YES

Long - Term Incentive: YES

Benefits Eligible: YES

Salary Range

The expected salary range for this role is $127,332.00 - $159,165.00 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.

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. 


Nearest Major Market: Chicago