Director, Sourcing Strategy

McDonald's Corporation•Chicago, IL

6d•$178,121 - $222,651

About The Position

This newly created role will sit within the U.S. Supply Chain organization and be responsible for leading the strategy and orchestrating the multiple McDonald's internal functions and external partners to support the company’s response to rapidly evolving Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations. EPR presents significant business risk, including compliance obligations, financial exposure, operational complexity, and reputational implications. In the envisioned new structure, the role will report into the Senior Director of Supply Chain and work across Supply Chain teams (including Packaging Sourcing, Sustainability, suppliers and third party resources), Legal, Government Relations and Global Policy to ensure alignment of policy, strategy, and execution. The position will support development and execution of EPR-related strategies while managing operational, financial, and compliance implications for the U.S. business. PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A TEMPORARY ROLE.

Requirements

5+ years of experience working in matrixed organizations across sustainability, supply chain, regulatory, or policy-related roles
Strong understanding of packaging systems, packaging materials, environmental regulation, or circularity concepts
Experience working across multiple functions and translating strategy into execution
Strong problem-solving, critical thinking, and analytical skills
Ability to translate complex regulatory requirements into clear actions
Effective communication and stakeholder management skills, experience working cross functionally internally.
Ability to manage multiple priorities in a dynamic environment
Strong public speaking experience

Nice To Haves

Experience representing a company in an external industry group or coalition, such as Circular Action Alliance (CAA), or other Producer Responsible Organization, strongly preferred

Responsibilities

Lead the development of McDonald’s U.S. EPR prevention strategy, focusing on upstream policy influence, packaging options, and business planning that reduce future risk before regulations are finalized or implemented.
Partner with Government Relations by providing EPR subject matter expertise, key points, business context, and broader education to support policy understanding and advocacy preparation; Government Relations will lead any direct engagement or advocacy with government officials, legislators, and regulators.
Build and maintain an integrated EPR roadmap that connects prevention, legislative and regulatory advocacy, compliance readiness, packaging optimization, and future-focused strategy across the U.S. business.
Serve as the central lead and source of truth for EPR-related work across the U.S. business, ensuring workstreams are coordinated and decision-making is aligned.
Serve as McDonald’s primary day-to-day representative to Circular Action Alliance (CAA), and the voting member on the board, leveraging opportunity to influence and strategically shape industry direction through board position on CAA, holding CAA accountable for representing producer interests, advancing recycling progress, and identifying allies for broader system solutions. Interface with working groups and committees as well as board meetings.
Act as the internal hub connecting Supply Chain, Government Relations, Sustainability, Legal, Restaurant Solutions, TMS, Packaging, suppliers, field teams, business leaders, and Owner/Operators to ensure EPR work is coordinated and not fragmented across functions. Become US leadership point person for all things EPR.
Lead rapid deployment once EPR laws are in place, ensuring McDonald’s is prepared to meet packaging compliance obligations, manage required reporting, and support implementation across affected states.
Own the end-to-end EPR compliance lifecycle, including registration, reporting, audit management, and submission accuracy across all applicable jurisdictions.
Provide centralized oversight for EPR compliance fees, reporting requirements, and related business impacts, including helping the business understand financial exposure and operational implications.
Partner with Supply Chain, Packaging, Sustainability, TMS, and suppliers to embed EPR requirements into packaging design, sourcing decisions, and supply chain strategies to balance compliance, cost, and operational feasibility.
Be aware and weigh in on pilots and other practical initiatives that support compliance, reduce fee exposure, improve packaging performance, ensures packaging meets EPR requirements and strengthen McDonald’s position in a changing regulatory environment.
Support field and Owner/Operator engagement by developing clear materials, talking points, updates, and guidance that help explain EPR developments, business impacts, and McDonald’s response. Lead the EPR Owner/Operator Taskforce: prepare material, answer questions and keep team on track.
Prepare leadership updates, recommendations, and decision materials that help senior leaders understand EPR risks, trade-offs, resource needs, and opportunities to strengthen McDonald’s influence and impact.