Platform Architect, Cloud Security
Date: Apr 27, 2026
Location: Chicago, IL, US, 60607
Company: McDonald's Corporation
Company Description:
McDonald’s growth strategy, Accelerating the Arches, encompasses all aspects of our business as the leading global omni-channel restaurant brand. As the consumer landscape shifts we are using our competitive advantages to further strengthen our brand. One of our core growth strategies is to Double Down on the 3Ds (Delivery, Digital and Drive Thru). McDonald’s will accelerate technology innovation so 65M+ customers a day will experience a fast, easy experience, whether at one of our 25,000 and growing Drive thrus, through McDelivery, dine-in or takeaway.
McDonald’s Global Technology is here to power tomorrow’s feel-good moments.
That’s why you’ll find us at the forefront of transformative technology, exploring new and innovative ways to serve our millions of customers and spread happiness one delicious Hot Fudge Sundae-dipped fry at a time. Using AI, robotics and emerging tech, we’re digitizing the Golden Arches. Combine that with our unparalleled global scale, and we’re reshaping all areas of the business, industry and every community that is home to a McDonald’s restaurant. We face complex tech challenges every day. But that’s where our diverse and talented teams come in. They’re made up of the best and brightest from all over the globe, and they thrive in the space where feel-good meets fast-paced.
Check out the McDonald’s Global Technology Technical Blog to learn how technology and our global team are directly enabling the Accelerating the Arches strategy.
Department Overview
This role is within the Global Technology Infrastructure & Operations team (GTIO). Our mission involves delivering modern and relevant technology that supports how McDonald’s operates. We offer essential technology products and services such as Global Networking, Cloud, End User Computing, and IT Service Management. Our aim is to consistently provide an engaging, relevant, and straightforward experience for our customers.
The Cloud Security Architect position belongs to the Cloud Infrastructure and Operations group within Global Technology Infrastructure & Operations. Reporting to the Director of Cloud Security, this role offers specialized knowledge for ongoing and upcoming planning, technical frameworks, models, and standards. This position collaborates closely with Cloud Platform Engineering teams (Business Office, Architecture, DevOps, and Security), as well as Enterprise Architecture and Engineering teams, to maintain a unified enterprise technology strategy and vision.
This is a great opportunity for an experienced individual contributor to help build the transformation of infrastructure and operations products and services across the entire McDonald’s environment!
Duties
- Participate in architecture and build discussions that produce requirements.
- Interpret requirements in a manner that encourages re-use and maintainability.
- Interpret secure framework requirements and translate into meaningful cloud-based requirements that meet or exceed company policy and standards.
- Collaborate in an agile-based environment and provide good daily feedback on team stand-up calls.
- Work effectively in a complex technical environment and embrace new technologies.
- Contribute to a well-informed cloud strategy and manage the adaptation process.
- Define new and/or continuously improve security reference architectures in alignment with company policies and standards.
- Understand key native cloud computing security measures and apply them in architecture builds.
- Use logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Qualifications
- Must be fully vaccinated (i.e., at least 2 weeks after last dose) for COVID-19 and, if hired, present proof of vaccination by start date.
- Willingness and ability to live the McDonald’s values every day: Serve, Inclusion, Integrity, Community, and Family.
- Strong ability to interact effectively as a member of a team.
- Ability to think strategically and relate architectural decisions/recommendations to business needs.
- Strong knowledge of cloud solution architecture within GCP.
- Proven expertise in implementing secure architectures.
- Extensive knowledge of several or all the following cloud concepts: Infrastructure as a Service, Serverless Architecture, Container Architecture, Platform as a Service, Storage, Infrastructure as Code, and Identity and Access Management.
- Extensive technical understanding in four or more and considerable technical skill in seven or more of the following fields:
- Cryptography, encryption, and key management
- Data protection and security
- Governance and risk management
- Identity, access, and permissions
- Infrastructure security
- Logging and monitoring
- Security event and incident response
- Threat and vulnerability management
- Application and interface security
- DevOps pipeline governance and security
- Certified: GCP Cloud Architect, or willing to acquire in first 6-months.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience suggesting/recommending competitive and innovative technical options, acquiring client agreement, and delivering on commitments.
- Comfortable presenting complex, technical topics in an actionable manner to senior leadership.
- More than 3 years of experience as an engineer or architect collaborating with public cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, and GCP.
- Experience with Agile methods, automation, and tools. Continuous Integration & Continuous Deployment tools and processes.
- Excellent client-facing written and oral communications.
- Excellent analytical, problem-solving, organizational, and time management skills.
- Professional-level cloud certifications (AWS, GCP, Azure).
Experience
- Over 3 years of experience as an engineer or architect collaborating with public cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, and GCP.
- A minimum of 2 years spent working as an engineer or architect on Google Cloud Platform.
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience and 6+ years relevant job experience or a Master’s degree or equivalent experience.
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, a 401(k) plan, adoption assistance program, educational assistance program, flexible ways of working, and time off policies (including sick leave, parental leave, and vacation/PTO). Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on job classification and length of employment.
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 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