Software Engineer I

Apply now »

Date: Sep 8, 2025

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. As the global leader in the food service industry, our legacy of innovation and hard work continues to drive us.
From drive thru updates to delivery to mobile order and pay, we are innovating quickly and growing. Joining McDonald's means thinking big and preparing for a career that can have influence around the world.
 

Department Overview

McDonald’s new 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. 

Leading this tech revolution is McDonald’s Global Technology organization made up of intrapreneurs who get to build really cool tech with scary smart people using the latest innovations like AI, IOT, and edge computing. We do this working along diverse, global teams who are always hungry for a challenge. It’s bonus points when you get to see your family and friends use the tech you build at their favorite McD restaurant.  

As we have matured as an engineering organization and seen the demands for technology grow exponentially, we’re gearing up to deliver on the next set of opportunities for the business. We are building up an engineering team in house accountable for our strategic products. We’ll have diverse squads made up of engineers with traditional and specialized skillsets, both from internal engineers coupled with our partners, to help us flex with demand and solve technology innovation challenges done at an incredible scale.  

Responsibilities

McDonald’s, one of the most recognized brands in the world, is seeking a skilled Software Engineer to own the transformation and ongoing evolution of our Point of Sale (POS) and Restaurant 

In this strategy and transformation focused role, you will partner with our Product Management and Architecture teams to define and lead all aspects of execution of the forward-looking vision of McDonald’s POS and Restaurant Technologies and the high-value transformation initiatives that will fuel our journey. Additionally, you will be the primary owner of our relationship with our 3rd party engineering vendors. 

That said, the biggest area of increase in our spending has been in technology, which is helping to drive our growth. We’re looking at how to use technology to improve the customer experience and build new customer experiences. We’re also exploring technologies that can help us reduce or eliminate repetitive tasks and make employees’ jobs more interesting and rewarding. With all the new projects and initiatives, it is an exciting time to be on the team that is helping to make a Better McDonald's! 

What You’ll Do: 

  • Collaborate, design, and bring innovative products and services to market. 
  • Design and build innovative technologies in a large distributed computing environment, and help lead fundamental changes in the industry. 
  • Create solutions to run predictions on distributed systems with exposure to innovative technologies at incredible scale and speed. 
  • Build distributed storage, index, and query systems that are scalable, fault-tolerant, low cost, and easy to manage/use. 
  • Ability to design and code the right solutions starting with broadly defined problems. 
  • Work in an agile environment to deliver high-quality software 
  • As a software development engineer, you will play a pivotal role in development of product features from beginning to end. 
  • Design, implement, test, deploy and maintain innovative software solutions to transform service performance, durability, cost, and security. 
  • Work in an agile, startup-like development environment, where you are always working on the most meaningful priorities. 

Qualifications

  • Previous technical internship(s), if applicable. 
  • Programming experience with at least one modern language such as Java, C++, or C# including object-oriented design. 
  • Experience in optimization mathematics such as linear programming and nonlinear optimization. 
  • Ability to effectively articulate technical challenges and solutions. 
  • Adept at handling ambiguous or undefined problems as well as ability to think abstractly. 
  • Solid knowledge of Computer Science fundamentals (object-oriented design, data structures and algorithm. 
  • Strong verbal and written communication skills, are self-driven and deliver high quality results in a fast-paced environment. 
  • Highly quantitative with great judgment and passion for building a phenomenal customer experience. 

Compensation

Bonus Eligible: YES

Benefits Eligible: YES

Salary Range

The expected salary range for this role is $75,700.00 - $94,620.00 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
At McDonalds we are People from all Walks of Life...


People are at the heart of everything we do, and they make the McDonalds experience. We embrace diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive culture that means people can be their best authentic self in our restaurants and offices, which helps us to better serve our customers. We have a strong heritage of diversity and representation within our communities, which we are proud of. The diversity of our people, customers, Franchisees, and suppliers gives us strength.

We do not tolerate inequality, injustice, or discrimination of any kind. These are hugely important issues and a brand with our reach and relevance means we have a very meaningful role to play.

We also recognise our responsibility as a large employer to continue being active in our communities, helping to develop skills and drive aspirations that will help people to be more aware of the world of work and more successful within it, whether with McDonalds or elsewhere.


Nearest Major Market: Chicago