Manager, Strategy & Planning

Department Overview

An integral part of the IDL Impact Team, this strategic role is focused on providing alignment, counsel, and support to Impact teams in IDL Business Units and markets around the world to help build and protect McDonald’s reputation and impact. You will serve as a key thought partner to the IDL Impact lead and entire IDL Impact team, helping to identify trends, stay ahead of reputational and brand issues, and ensure DL markets have the resources and support needed for continued growth.

You will lead annual planning for Global Impact within the IDL Segment, ensuring consistency in strategy, messaging, approach across the three IDL business units.  You will also gain direct market experience by partnering with the Asia BU Impact lead to support select communications and engagement with Asia BU markets, as needed.  The support for Asia will equate to 25% of your time.

Duties

Strategy, planning, and alignment

• Serve as a key thought partner to IDL Impact Sr. Director, and support strategy development and alignment across IDL Impact team.
• Partner with the Sr. Director to lead annual market planning process and ensure Global Impact priorities are reflected within market Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs), Phase 1, and Phase 2 plans. Attend key plan presentations, as needed.
• Lead the development of the annual IDL Impact plan template, and partner with BU Impact leads to support markets in plan development.
• Lead annual Impact Plan overview session for COEs, distilling the key themes, risks, and opportunities in market plans and sharing with COEs to inform annual Global Impact planning process.
• Lead the coordination of and partner with the Sr. Director to develop the agenda for annual IDL Impact team planning meetings.

Market collaboration and best practice sharing

• Lead quarterly IDL market webinars for 75+ markets to promote visibility and best practice sharing across the IDL segment, ensuring that content is timely, relevant, and informative for market leads.
• Lead planning of bi-annual IDL Impact Summit; a multiday convening which brings together Impact leads from the 75+ IDL markets, plus key global leaders and partners.
• Support Asia BU markets, in partnership with the BU Impact lead, as needed. This includes ongoing alignment and engagement, crisis and issues support, facilitation of best practice sharing and management of select BU Impact projects, as needed. (25% of remit).
• Support IDL BU Impact leads in managing engagement with and advising markets, as needed.

Stakeholder management

• Manage agency partnerships, including briefing, onboarding, and general relationship and project management.
• Lead and oversee Extended IDL Impact Team; a forum which brings together representatives across the COEs with accountability to IDL markets. Develop robust agendas that meet the needs of both the IDL Impact team and COEs, lead discussions, manage follow-up, etc.
• Serve as a key contact for Global Impact COEs, ensuring they have visibility into IDL Impact initiatives, and representing and advocating for IDL markets to COEs.
• Showcase DL market achievements, best practices, context, and perspective to the Global Impact team, ensuring that DL market perspectives are reflected as part of wider Global Impact discussions.

Project management

• Lead and support other projects, as required. Examples include:
  • Boycott recovery and localization work, including Oxford Economics and localization research
  • Supporting international media relations team on regional earned and paid storytelling
  • Working with Global Comms Story Lab team on spotlighting IDL stories across corporate channels
• Proactively engage with select markets, tracking priority activities and supporting their planning and engagement with IDL Impact.
• Support peers with vacation/leave coverage across, as well as providing market support on issues and crisis when needed.
• Leading multi-BU Impact projects and programs - coordinating across BUs and Impact teams to deliver key initiatives, such as:

Qualifications

• Proven experience in strategy, planning, or communications within a complex, matrixed global organisation, ideally with exposure to corporate affairs, impact, sustainability, reputation, or brand‑adjacent work.
• Strong strategic thinking and synthesis skills, with the ability to identify patterns, trends, and risks across multiple markets and translate them into clear priorities and actionable plans.
• Demonstrated capability in leading cross‑market planning and alignment processes, ensuring consistency of strategy, messaging, and approach while respecting local market nuance.
• Experience working with senior stakeholders and leadership teams, acting as a trusted thought partner who can provide sound judgement, challenge constructively, and influence without authority.
• Excellent project and process management skills, with the ability to manage multiple workstreams, timelines, and stakeholders across geographies and time zones.
• Strong communication and facilitation skills, including experience leading forums, workshops, webinars, or large convenings to drive alignment, learning, and best‑practice sharing.
• Comfort operating in ambiguous and fast‑moving environments, with a proactive mindset, high attention to detail, and the ability to balance strategic perspective with hands‑on execution.