Manager, Engineering Tech Lead

McDonald's Corporation • Chicago, IL

2d

About The Position

McDonald’s growth strategy, Accelerating the Arches, encompasses all aspects of our business as the leading global omni-channel restaurant brand. As the consumer landscape shifts we are using our competitive advantages to further strengthen our brand. One of our core growth strategies is to Double Down on the 3Ds (Delivery, Digital and Drive Thru). McDonald’s will accelerate technology innovation so 65M+ customers a day will experience a fast, easy experience, whether at one of our 25,000 and growing Drive thrus, through McDelivery, dine-in or takeaway.  

McDonald’s Global Technology is here to power tomorrow’s feel-good moments.   

That’s why you’ll find us at the forefront of transformative technology, exploring new and innovative ways to serve our millions of customers and spread happiness one delicious Hot Fudge Sundae-dipped fry at a time. Using AI, robotics and emerging tech, we’re digitizing the Golden Arches. Combine that with our unparalleled global scale, and we’re reshaping all areas of the business, industry and every community that is home to a McDonald’s restaurant. We face complex tech challenges every day. But that’s where our diverse and talented teams come in. They’re made up of the best and brightest from all over the globe, and they thrive in the space where feel-good meets fast-paced.   

Check out the McDonald’s  Global Technology Technical Blog to learn how technology and our global team are directly enabling the Accelerating the Arches strategy.  
Department OverviewOverview The Manager, Engineering – Menu Service & Model Context Gateway (MCP) leads a team of engineers responsible for designing, building, and operating the Menu Service and the MCP. This role reports to the Senior Manager, Engineering Tech Lead, Conversational Commerce. It is critical to delivering accurate, scalable, and AI-ready menu data for Conversational Commerce platforms, supporting seamless customer experiences and rapid business innovation.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in software engineering, data integration, or platform development, with progressive leadership responsibilities.
• 2+ years leading engineering teams delivering data services or APIs at scale.
• Strong experience with data modeling, API design, and cloud-native architectures.
• Proven ability to manage migrations and contribute to architectural modernization.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and cross-functional leadership skills.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with menu data, QSR or retail platforms, or conversational AI systems.
• Familiarity with event-driven architectures, real-time data pipelines, and LLM/AI integration.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.

Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end development and operation of the Menu Service and Model Context Gateway, ensuring real-time, canonical menu data is available to AI and ordering systems.
• Contribute to the architecture and deliver scalable, resilient, and globally extensible menu data solutions, decoupling backend complexity from AI consumers.
• Oversee ingestion, transformation, and publication of menu data, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and compliance with business requirements.
• Manage the migration from legacy, hardcoded menu logic to a standardized, event-driven, and API-first architecture.
• Build and mentor a high-performing engineering team (including tech leads and developers), fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Manage product delivery, resource allocation, and cross-functional dependencies, ensuring on-time and on-budget execution.
• Collaborate with product, architecture, and platform teams to align on requirements, priorities, and technical strategy.
• Serve as a technical liaison for menu data integration with external partners (e.g., External AI Partner, POS vendors, Channel Menu teams).
• Communicate technical progress and challenges to stakeholders.
• Ensure robust testing, validation, and monitoring of menu data flows and APIs.
• Lead incident response, troubleshooting, and continuous improvement for menu service reliability and performance.

Benefits

• 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
• a 401(k) plan
• adoption assistance program
• educational assistance program
• flexible ways of working
• time off policies (including sick leave, parental leave, and vacation/PTO)
• bonus, calculated based on individual and company performance.
• stock or other equity grants pursuant to McDonald’s long-term incentive plan

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees