Sr Director, Enterprise Architecture

Sr Director, Enterprise Architecture

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 ofoutstanding benefits including a sabbatical program, tuition assistance and flexible work arrangements.

Department Overview

The Senior Director of Enterprise Architecture helps guide the enterprise, proactively and holistically, through transformation and optimization initiatives, supporting the formulation and realization of digital and technology strategy and driving innovation opportunities. The scope of activities includes enabling the organization to achieve targeted business outcomes that support enterprise and C-suite priorities for growing revenue, optimizing costs and mitigating risks. They focus on building relationships with business and IT stakeholders, communicating the value of enterprise architecture (EA) and the services it offers, ensuring ongoing satisfaction with EA services and performance, and shaping and guiding the delivery of EA’s services.

As the Senior Director of Enterprise Architecture, you will shape the future technology landscape of a global brand. You will lead a high-performing team of enterprise architects to mature the EA practice into a highly collaborative, agile, internal consultancy.

This role requires a visionary leader who can operate comfortably at the intersection of business strategy and deep technical execution. You will establish a clear, modern EA vision that empowers engineering teams, simplifies complex legacy ecosystems, and ensures our technology foundations are resilient, scalable, and cost-efficient.

Duties

• Represent the architecture function in executive-level discussions, translating technical strategy into business value and risk implications.
• Lead the enterprise-wide architecture governance to ensure the alignment to McDonald’s tech standards and target states while driving cross-functional collaboration.
• Mature EA into an internal consultancy offering agile, stakeholder-aligned services.
• Set the vision, strategy and roadmap for the enterprise architecture function, in alignment with relevant stakeholders.
• Manage EA resources (e.g., budget, including tooling, training, and staffing investments), and ensure governance and compliance.
• Provide coaching to develop a skilled EA team, fostering both technical depth / subject matter expertise, and soft skills (behavioral competencies) necessary to influence without direct authority.
• Mentor and develop future leaders within the organization, creating pathways for internal growth.
• Identify and develop future leaders in the organization, creating pathways for internal growth.
• Build a culture of accountability, setting clear expectations and empowering team members to make sound decisions independently.

Shape and Guide Business Strategy

• Analyze market trends, disruptive forces, and financial levers to inform strategy.
• Develop future- and current-state models to support strategic decision-making.

Bridge Strategy and Execution

• Align business and IT through technology-enabled business models and roadmaps.
• Address execution challenges while balancing innovation and growth.

Drive Innovation and Emerging Technology Adoption

• Identify and assess disruptive technologies and innovation opportunities.
• Provide actionable insights and manage innovation execution using agile methods.

Strengthen Business Engagement

• Act as a trusted advisor to business leaders on technology investments.
• Develop consumable, timely architecture guidance to support strategic decisions.
• Facilitate cross-functional collaboration and stakeholder alignment.

Emerging Tech & AI Adoption

• Lead the evalutation and strategic adoption of disruptive technologies, including Generative AI, machine learning, and advanced data paradigms. Establish safe, ethical, and scalable frameworks for AI implementation.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in business, computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering, system analysis or a related field of study, or equivalent experience.

Professional Experience

• 15+ years of progressive technology experience, with at least 8+ years in a senior leadership role guiding enterprise-level architecture, strategic planning, or platform engineering in a global, highly distributed environment.

Technical Depth

• Multidisciplinary experience spanning at least three key areas: Business/Enterprise Architecture, Solution/Technical Architecture, Cloud Platforms (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS), Data/Analytics Engineering, or DevSecOps.
• Hands-on familiarity with modern tech stacks, API-led connectivity, microservices architectures, and data mesh principles.

Leadership & Influence

• Outstanding capability to lead, inspire, and influence without direct authority. Proven success in navigating highly matrixed, global organizational structures with multiple regional and franchise stakeholders..

Compensation

• Bonus Eligible: Yes
• Long-Term Incentive: Yes
• Benefits Eligible: Yes

Salary Range

The expected salary range for this role is $219,522-$274,403 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 committed to the diversity of our workforce.

We promote an inclusive work environment that creates feel-good moments for everyone.

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.

Chicago, IL, 60607, US