Director, Back Office Applications

McDonald's Corporation; London; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading global restaurant brand is seeking a Director of Back Office Applications to oversee the development of Back Office capabilities. This role requires strong leadership skills and experience in supplier management, strategic planning, and team development. You will drive technology solutions and ensure alignment with business objectives, supporting thousands of restaurants worldwide.

Qualifications

• Experience in Supplier management and contract negotiations.
• Strong communication skills, fluent in English.
• Willingness to travel up to 20%.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team supporting development of Back Office and eProduction capabilities.
• Ensure architecture compliance and develop technical roadmaps.
• Monitor supplier performance to ensure value and service quality.

Skills

Understanding of Back Office and Production Management software

Managing geographically dispersed teams

Customer-first mindset

Supplier management

Strong interpersonal skills

Strategic thinking

Managing large-scale programs

Education

Bachelor’s degree or higher

Project management certification

Job description

Company Description

McDonald’s is focused on accelerating growth through its strategy that prioritizes customers and people, leveraging its competitive advantages to strengthen the brand. Recognized on lists like Fortune’s Most Admired Companies and Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies.

Our growth pillars emphasize the importance of technology as a leading, global omni-channel restaurant brand. Technology enhances the organization through digital solutions, improving experiences for customers, crew, and employees daily.

Global Technology is at the forefront, leading the digitization of our business. Our Technology team comprises intrapreneurs building industry-defining tech using the latest innovations like AI and edge computing, delivering new opportunities at an incredible scale. This role offers exciting career paths for technologists and the chance to see your work directly impact our restaurants and customers worldwide.

Learn more about how technology enables our strategy by checking out the Global Technology Technical Blog.

Job Description

The Director of Back Office Applications will lead a team supporting the development of Back Office and eProduction capabilities across all McDonald’s segments and markets globally.

You will coordinate with segments, corporate, and business stakeholders to ensure alignment of product and deployment roadmaps with business priorities. You will also oversee resources and skills within your team and with suppliers to deliver products and programs supporting McDonald’s Global Technology objectives.

Key Responsibilities include:

• Application and Integration: Ensure architecture compliance, security standards, and modern, scalable integrations. Develop technical roadmaps and collaborate with Product and Design teams to optimize customer experience and usability.
• Strategic Programme Alignment: Provide leadership for global Back Office solutions and ensure they support McDonald’s strategic goals.
• Solution Ecosystem: Lead stakeholder connections, ensuring readiness for global programs like POS and Supply Chain.
• Supplier Performance Monitoring: Monitor and evaluate supplier performance to ensure value and service quality.
• Vendor Management Alignment: Coordinate with the Vendor Management Office to meet service levels and contractual obligations.
• Manage Supplier Performance Issues: Address and remediate poor performance issues with minimal disruption.
• Market and Segment Alignment: Keep leadership informed on product capabilities and deployment targets.
• Enable Technology in Business Units: Align deployment roadmaps with product teams and ensure sufficient capacity.
• Team Development: Lead resource planning, set priorities, and foster team growth to meet goals.

Performance Metrics:

• Software quality and reliability
• Transparent product roadmaps
• Demand and capacity planning execution
• Delivery of deployment roadmaps
• Business value delivery of platforms and solutions
• Global supplier performance monitoring
• Availability of a comprehensive back office solutions portfolio for modernization

Team and Customer Focus

You will be part of the Data and Back Office enablement team, managing solutions used across thousands of restaurants globally. Your customers include internal stakeholders and third-party suppliers, ensuring applications support strategic initiatives worldwide.

Required Background

• Understanding of Back Office and Production Management software, system architectures, and integrations, including cloud and Agile methodologies.
• Experience in managing geographically dispersed teams.
• Customer-first mindset and continuous improvement approach.
• Supplier management experience, including performance evaluation and contract negotiations.
• Strong interpersonal skills for stakeholder collaboration and influence.
• Strategic thinking aligned with business objectives.
• Proven ability to manage large-scale programs, ideally involving business change and IT transformation.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or higher
• Project management certification preferred
• Fluent in English with strong communication skills
• Willingness to travel up to 20%

Additional Information

At McDonald’s, diversity and inclusion are core values. We are committed to creating an inclusive culture where everyone can thrive and bring their authentic selves to work. We actively promote community engagement and skills development to help people succeed both within and outside McDonald’s.