Director, U.S. Media

McDonald's Restaurants Limited; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 168,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Sabbatical program

Tuition assistance

Flexible work arrangements

Health and welfare benefits

Job summary

McDonald’s Restaurants Limited, based in Chicago, seeks a senior leader to direct Menu & Investment, portfolio strategy, and cross-functional media partnerships. You will lead a team of media experts, align with Marketing, Finance, and Operations, and drive national campaigns across multiple channels.

The role demands strong leadership, strategic thinking, and a track record of delivering impactful media investments in a large consumer brand environment.

Qualifications

• Significant experience leading media investment, strategy and planning.
• Experience leading cross-channel media portfolios at scale.
• Knowledge of video, digital, social, audio, sports, multicultural media.
• Experience leading agencies and strategic partnerships.
• Proven people leadership and inclusive culture.
• Strong communication with senior leaders.
• Analytical with budget management experience.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a team of media experts with clear priorities.
• Oversee national U.S. paid media strategy across channels.
• Optimize budget allocation and portfolio stewardship.
• Shape marketplace partnerships and agency relationships.
• Drive Menu, saliency, sports, and multicultural media campaigns.
• Collaborate with Marketing, Finance, Insights, and Operations.
• Communicate tradeoffs and strategic recommendations to leadership.

Skills

Media investment

Strategy

Planning

Marketplace partnerships

Budget management

Stakeholder communication

People leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Analytical thinking

Executive communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent

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

The Customer Engagement and Experience team nurtures profitable customer relationships through meaningful engagements and seamless experiences by leveraging data, innovation, and technology.

Duties

The Media Director, Menu & Investment is a senior leader on the U.S. Media team responsible for connecting marketplace intelligence, portfolio investment strategy, and high-impact campaign planning to drive business and brand outcomes. This leader oversees portfolio investment, menu, sports, multicultural media, marketplace and agency partnerships, and budget stewardship.

The role also leads and develops a team of media experts and partners across the organization, Owner/Operator community, agencies, and media platforms to deliver against enterprise priorities.

In this role, you will:

Lead the Menu & Investment pillar

• Lead and develop a team of media experts, establishing clear priorities, decision rights, and ways of working across the pillar.
• Create an inclusive, high-performing team environment that builds strategic, investment, marketplace, and campaign-planning capability.
• Connect Menu & Investment priorities with the broader U.S. Media operating model, including Brand & Planning and Value & Local.

Own portfolio investment strategy and stewardship

• Lead investment strategy for national U.S. paid media across channels and campaigns.
• Oversee portfolio allocation, budget management,optimization, and stewardship to maximize effectiveness across the media portfolio.
• Translate business priorities, audience insights, performance data, and marketplace dynamics into clear investment recommendations for senior leaders and Owner/Operator stakeholders.

Shape marketplace partnerships and agency relationships

• Lead the strategic approach to Upfronts, joint business partnerships, and priority marketplace relationships.
• Identify and test high-impact media opportunities with agency and platform partners, balancing innovation, business impact, and financial discipline.
• Guide agency relationships, expectations, and performance to ensure strong strategic work, integrated delivery, and accountable execution.

Lead Menu, saliency, sports, and multicultural media

• Oversee national Menu campaigns from brief through planning, purchase, optimization, and performance assessment.
• Advance saliency and sports media strategies that connect investment choices to brand and business priorities.
• Guide omnichannel multicultural media campaigns in partnership with multicultural agencies and cross-functional activation and communications teams.
• Ensure campaign plans are audience-led, channel-integrated, operationally executable, and designed with clear learning agendas.

Drive integration, learning, and influence

• Partner closely with Marketing, Finance, Insights, Analytics, Operations, Legal, Procurement, and agency teams to align strategy and execution.
• Use performance signals, portfolio learning, and marketplace intelligence to improve future planning and investment decisions.
• Serve as a trusted media subject-matter expert with Owner/Operator groups and senior stakeholders.
• Communicate complex tradeoffs and recommendations with clarity, balancing short-term campaign needs with long-term portfolio health.

Qualifications

• Significant experience leading media investment, strategy, planning, or marketplace partnerships for a large consumer brand, agency, or media organization.
• Demonstrated ability to lead complex, cross-channel media portfolios and make sound investment decisions at scale.
• Deep working knowledge of the media marketplace, including video, digital, social, audio, sports, multicultural media, and emerging channels.
• Experience leading agencies, negotiating or shaping strategic partnerships, and working across matrixed organizations.
• Proven people leadership, with the ability to set direction, develop talent, and build an inclusive, accountable team culture.
• Ability to communicate clearly and influence senior leaders and varied stakeholder groups, including translating complex investment decisions into clear, actionable recommendations.
• Strong financial and analytical orientation, with experience managing budgets, assessing performance, and applying learning to future decisions.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent relevant experience.

Compensation

Bonus Eligible: Yes

Long - Term Incentive: Yes

Benefits Eligible: Yes

Salary Range

The expected salary range for this role is$168,212.00 -$210,265.00per 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.

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 [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.