Manager, Data Engineering

Department Overview McDonald’s Global Data & Analytics organization is seeking a Manager, Data Engineering to lead the design, delivery, and evolution of large-scale data products that support critical global business outcomes. This role is responsible for end-to-end technical ownership of data products, including roadmap execution, engineering excellence, and people leadership for a squad of data engineers. You will operate at the intersection of technology, product, and business, serving as the primary technical decision-maker for your data products while partnering closely with Product Managers, Architects, and key stakeholders across the enterprise. Success in this role requires deep technical fluency, strong leadership instincts, and a customer‑focused mindset. Duties Data Product Ownership & Technical Strategy Own the technical vision, architecture, and evolution of assigned data products. Develop and maintain a target‑state technical roadmap, balancing functional enhancements, non‑functional requirements (performance, reliability, scalability), and technical debt. Serve as a deep subject‑matter expert on your products, including: Data ingestion, transformation, and loading patterns Table structures and semantic layers Upstream and downstream integrations Evaluate whether existing solutions are fit for purpose and continuously evolve platforms using modern data engineering best practices. Partner with Data and Solution Architects to deliver scalable, secure, and reliable data solutions. Manage technical dependencies and interfaces across McDonald’s broader data ecosystem. Establish engineering best practices for risk management, testing strategy, and production readiness. Define and enforce non‑functional requirements throughout the product lifecycle. Manage temporary solutions and technical debt at the squad level. Engineering Excellence & Data Quality Ensure high standards of data quality, reliability, observability, and performance from an end‑user perspective. Participate in and lead data quality initiatives across McDonald’s data platforms. Oversee testing strategies and validate quality of outputs delivered by internal and external development teams. Participate in release planning and deployment coordination in partnership with Product and Deployment teams. Serve as a technical escalation point for complex incidents, defects, or architectural decisions. Stakeholder Partnership & Customer Obsession Partner closely with Product Managers to own and execute product roadmaps aligned to business priorities. Map product roadmaps into clear release plans and communicate progress to markets and stakeholders. Act as an advocate for the global end‑user experience, ensuring solutions scale across functions and geographies. Conduct or support business acceptance for features and epics based on defined success criteria. Actively gather end‑user feedback and translate insights into roadmap and product improvements. Manage accountability with third‑party technology vendors involved in product delivery. Communicate complex technical concepts clearly to stakeholders at varying levels of technical depth. Collaboration & Cross‑Team Delivery Serve as a catalyst for collaboration across Data & Analytics, Technology, and business teams. Partner with Initiative Leads, Product Managers, Architects, and Program teams to maximize value delivery across multi‑product initiatives. Own and prioritize the product backlog, including participation in intake triage and decomposition of ideas into epics and features. Ensure alignment and coordination across dependent data products and platforms. People Leadership, Capacity & Resource Management Provide people leadership for a team of data engineers, including coaching, performance management, and career development. Manage squad capacity across development, defect resolution, market enablement, and testing. Forecast capacity needs and partner with Demand Management to engage third‑party resources when required. Ensure work flows through McDonald’s Demand Management and Agile delivery processes effectively. Foster a culture of engineering excellence, accountability, and continuous improvement. Qualifications Required Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field. 5+ years of hands‑on experience in data engineering or related technical roles. Proven experience leading or managing engineering teams in complex environments. Strong working knowledge of cloud‑based data platforms (AWS and/or GCP). Experience building, deploying, and operating data pipelines at scale. Experience working in Agile delivery models (sprint planning, stand‑ups, retrospectives). Strong communication and stakeholder management skills across a global, matrixed organization. Detail‑oriented, analytical, and able to independently reason through complex problems. Preferred Experience with McDonald’s digital ecosystem, restaurant technology, or enterprise data platforms. Familiarity with McDonald’s data systems and digital stack. Experience using JIRA, Confluence, and ServiceNow or similar tools. Experience working with monitoring, alerting, and incident management tooling. Additional Information Minimal travel required. Chicago‑based role, working primarily on‑site at McDonald’s Global Headquarters. Compensation Bonus Eligible: EDIT Long – Term Incentive: EDIT Benefits Eligible: EDIT Salary Range The expected salary range for this role is $138,207.00 – $172,758.00 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. Benefits 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. EEO Statement 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 View email address on click.appcast.io. 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. Requsition ID: 3859 #J-18808-Ljbffr