DAA Planning - Chief of Staff

McDonald's Corporation•Chicago, IL

About The Position

As Director, Strategy & Planning (Chief of Staff), you will serve as a critical leader in the EDAA organization—owning the strategic planning, prioritization, portfolio management, and communication of data, analytics, and AI initiatives across the enterprise. This role leads the orchestration of cross-functional demand, investment planning, and execution alignment, ensuring the right capabilities are delivered at the right time to meet business goals. You’ll work at the intersection of business strategy, technology transformation, and operational excellence—partnering closely with EDAA leaders, product owners, market teams, and enterprise stakeholders to translate strategic intent into execution roadmaps.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in strategic planning, portfolio management, or business operations within a data, digital, or technology-led environment.
Strong background in enterprise planning, prioritization frameworks, and cross-functional coordination.
Excellent communication, storytelling, and executive influencing skills.
Demonstrated experience managing complex portfolios and building scalable governance processes.

Nice To Haves

Experience within a global, matrixed organization.
Familiarity with data and analytics lifecycle, product management, or agile ways of working.
Prior exposure to enterprise funding models, business case development, and value realization frameworks.

Responsibilities

Own and drive the strategic planning cycle for EDAA, including portfolio planning, quarterly OKR alignment, QBRs, and annual prioritization.
Partner with domain leaders and product teams to define and sequence high-value use cases, aligned to enterprise growth priorities.
Oversee demand intake governance and translate demand into capacity-aligned delivery plans in collaboration with Planning, Product, and Finance partners.
Lead portfolio performance reviews to ensure delivery accountability, investment alignment, and value realization.
Serve as the connective tissue between EDAA, global market stakeholders, and enterprise functions to align on funding, sequencing, and interdependencies.
Collaborate with technology, finance, and operations teams and their Chiefs of Staff to ensure initiatives are scoped, staffed, and sequenced for impact.
Deliver reporting and analytics on portfolio health, resource allocation, risk, and return-on-investment to EDAA and enterprise leadership.
Provide clear, data-informed recommendations on trade-offs, sequencing, and investment shifts.
Lead a small team of planning professionals and foster a culture of clarity, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Champion a strategy-first mindset, driving alignment between enterprise objectives and data-driven outcomes.