Director, Product Management

McDonald's; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 195,000 - 244,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Tuition assistance

Flexible work arrangements

Job summary

McDonald’s is seeking a Director of Product Management to lead the Kitchen Solutions team within Consumer Products & Platforms. You’ll own a portfolio focused on kitchen execution, food quality, and emerging restaurant technologies, including eProduction, Accuracy Scales, Lockers, Kitchen Computer Vision, and future innovations that help restaurant teams work smarter and deliver better outcomes.

You will partner with Operations, Technology, Experience Design, Strategic Insights, and market teams

Qualifications

• 8+ years of product management experience, with leadership of cross-functional teams.
• Proven track record delivering measurable business outcomes with product portfolios.
• Ability to translate complex operational challenges into scalable product solutions.
• Experience bringing innovative technologies from concept through pilot to deployment.
• Strong communication of vision, strategy and results to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Thrives in collaborative environments across Product, Technology, Design, Operations and business teams.
• Demonstrated stakeholder management in large, global organizations.
• Passion for creating technology that improves frontline employee experiences while delivering business value.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the product vision, strategy and roadmap for Kitchen Solutions.
• Partner with Operations, Technology, Design to define kitchen workflows and decisions within ArchIQ.
• Identify and validate emerging concepts and technologies for pilots and scalable investments.
• Develop strategy for internally built and vendor solutions within ArchIQ ecosystem.
• Coach and develop product managers; empower teams to own outcomes.
• Collaborate with Experience Design and Operations to simplify crew workflows and improve real-time decisions.
• Manage cross-functional stakeholders across Operations, Tech, and market teams.
• Define performance metrics and measure adoption across the portfolio.

Skills

Strategic product leadership

Cross-functional leadership

Translate operational challenges

Pilot to deployment

Stakeholder management

Customer obsession

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent in Business, Engineering, Computer Science, Product Management, Operations, or related field

Job description

Job Description:

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.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

We're looking for a Director of Product Management to lead our Kitchen Solutions team. You'll lead a portfolio focused on kitchen execution, food quality, and emerging restaurant technologies, including eProduction, Accuracy Scales, Lockers, Kitchen Computer Vision, and future innovations that help restaurant teams work smarter and deliver better outcomes.

This role sits within Consumer Products & Platforms and is responsible for shaping how kitchen technology evolves as part of the broader ArchIQ ecosystem. ArchIQ represents our vision for a more connected restaurant, bringing together data, intelligence, workflows, and experiences to help crews and managers make better decisions in the moments that matter most. Within that vision, Kitchen Solutions plays a critical role in connecting planning, execution, and quality across restaurant operations.

This role operates at the intersection of quality, efficiency, and hospitality. You will partner closely with Operations, Technology, Experience Design, Strategic Insights, and market teams to identify opportunities that improve restaurant performance while simplifying the experience for crew members and managers. Success in this role requires balancing near-term operational improvements with long-term platform strategy, ensuring technology investments create measurable value for restaurant P&L, operational execution, food quality, and customer experience.

You will work closely with your Product Management counterpart leading Coaching & Planning Solutions to create seamless experiences across planning, execution, and continuous improvement. Together, these portfolios will help define how restaurants plan their work, execute with confidence, and continuously improve performance through connected workflows and intelligent recommendations.

Duties

• Strategic Product Leadership: Define and execute the product vision, strategy and roadmap for Kitchen Solutions. Lead a portfolio spanning Production, Accuracy Scales, Lockers, Kitchen Computer Visions, food quality monitoring and emerging technologies. Establish a clear strategy for how these capabilities integrate within the ArchIQ ecosystem to create a connected kitchen experience that improves restaurant performance whil reducing operational complexity.
• ArchIQ Portfolio Strategy: Partner across Product, Operations, Technology and Experience Design to define how kitchen workflows, insights, and decisions come together within ArchIQ. Drive a cohesive vision across screens, technologies and operational moments that enables crews and managers to work more efficiently while maintaining food quality and hospitality standards.
• Innovation and Emerging Technology: Serve as the organization's innovation incubator for restaurant technologies. Identify, evaluate, pilot, and validate emerging concepts, technologies and market solutions that have the potential to improve restaurant operations. Create clear pathways for transitioning succesful pilots into scalable, sustainable product investments.
• Product Ecosystem and Platform Strategy: Develop the strategy for how internally built products, vendor solutions, market-developed capabilities, and emerging technologies complement and integrate with ArchIQ. Establish clear decision frameworks for buy, build, partner, and platform integration opportunities while maintaining a cohesive restaurant experience.
• Team Leadership: Coach and develop a team of product mangers, fostering strong product thinking, customer obsession, and outcome-driven decision making. Partner closely with Engineering, Experience Design, Data & Analytics, and Agile teams to deliver high-quality solutions that achieve measurable results. Empower teams to own outcomes, experiment thoughtfully, and continuously improve.
• Crew Experience: Partner with Experience Design and Operations to develop intuitive, reliable, and efffective experience for crew members and managers. Ensure products simplify restaurant workflows, reduce cognitive load, and enable better real-time decisions without disrupting restaurant operations.
• Cross-Functional Stakeholder Management and Collaboration: Develop strong relationships across Operations, Technology, Strategic Insights, Restaurant Services, market teams and vendor partners. Align stakeholders around shared priorities and outcomes while helping navigate competing needs and organizational complexity to drive decision-making and execution.
• Vendor and Partner Management: Define how we should manage a vendor-supported portfolio, establing clear R&R and expectations of success for our team. Guide the evaluation and strategic direction of vendor and partner solutions supporting Kitchen Solutions capabilities. Ensure third-party technologies align with platform strategy, restaurant needs and long-term business objectives.
• Continuous Improvement and Product Adoption: Partner with Operations Analytics and Operations to define performance metrics, measure adoption and assess business impact across the portfolio. Use data and restaurant feedback to continuously optimize experiences and prioritize future investments.

Qualifications

You’ll be a great fit for this role if you:

• Bring experience in restaurant technology, hospitality technology, enterprise SaaS, operational systems, supply chain technologies, IoT solutions, or adjacent product domains.

• Have a proven track record of leading highly visible, cross-functional product portfolios with measurable business outcomes.

• Excel at translating complex operational challenges into simple, scalable product solutions.

• Have experience bringing innovative technologies from concept through pilot, validation, and enterprise deployment.

• Effectively communicate product vision, strategy, and results to both technical and non-technical audiences, including senior executive stakeholders.

• Thrive in highly collaborative environments where success depends on close partnership across Product, Technology, Design, Operations, and business teams.

• Are skilled at stakeholder management, influence, and decision-making in large, global organizations.

• Are passionate about creating technology that makes life easier for frontline employees while delivering measurable business value.

Other Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in Business, Engineering, Computer Science, Product Management, Operations, or a related field.

• Minimum 8+ years of product management experience, with experience leading product managers and cross-functional teams.

• Demonstrated experience building and executing product strategies tied to measurable business outcomes.

• Strong analytical and business-case development skills.

• Experience working in a global organization, preferably within hospitality, retail, restaurant, franchised, or consumer-facing industries.

Compensation

Bonus Eligible: Yes

Long - Term Incentive: Yes

Benefits Eligible: Yes

Salary Range

The expected salary range for this role is $195,371 - $244,214 per year.

The above represents the expectedsalaryrange for this job requisition. Ultimately, in determining yourpay, 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. 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 [e-mail]. 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.