Sr Director, Enterprise Architecture

McDonald's Corporation • Chicago, IL

1d • $219,522 - $274,403

About The Position

The Senior Director of Enterprise Architecture helps guide the enterprise, proactively and holistically, through transformation and optimization initiatives, supporting the formulation and realization of digital and technology strategy and driving innovation opportunities. The scope of activities includes enabling the organization to achieve targeted business outcomes that support enterprise and C-suite priorities for growing revenue, optimizing costs and mitigating risks. They focus on building relationships with business and IT stakeholders, communicating the value of enterprise architecture (EA) and the services it offers, ensuring ongoing satisfaction with EA services and performance, and shaping and guiding the delivery of EA’s services. As the Senior Director of Enterprise Architecture, you will shape the future technology landscape of a global brand. You will lead a high-performing team of enterprise architects to mature the EA practice into a highly collaborative, agile, internal consultancy. This role requires a visionary leader who can operate comfortably at the intersection of business strategy and deep technical execution. You will establish a clear, modern EA vision that empowers engineering teams, simplifies complex legacy ecosystems, and ensures our technology foundations are resilient, scalable, and cost-efficient.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in business, computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering, system analysis or a related field of study, or equivalent experience.
• 15+ years of progressive technology experience, with at least 8+ years in a senior leadership role guiding enterprise-level architecture, strategic planning, or platform engineering in a global, highly distributed environment.
• Proven track record of successfully driving large-scale digital transformation, legacy modernization, or cloud migration initiatives.
• Multidisciplinary experience spanning at least three key areas: Business/Enterprise Architecture, Solution/Technical Architecture, Cloud Platforms (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS), Data/Analytics Engineering, or DevSecOps.
• Hands-on familiarity with modern tech stacks, API-led connectivity, microservices architectures, and data mesh principles.
• Outstanding capability to lead, inspire, and influence without direct authority.
• Proven success in navigating highly matrixed, global organizational structures with multiple regional and franchise stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Represent the architecture function in executive-level discussions, translating technical strategy into business value and risk implications.
• Lead the enterprise-wide architecture governance to ensure the alignment to McDonald’s tech standards and target states while driving cross-functional collaboration.
• Mature EA into an internal consultancy offering agile, stakeholder-aligned services.
• Set the vision, strategy and roadmap for the enterprise architecture function, in alignment with relevant stakeholders.
• Manage EA resources (e.g., budget, including tooling, training, and staffing investments), and ensure governance and compliance.
• Provide coaching to develop a skilled EA team, fostering both technical depth / subject matter expertise, and soft skills (behavioral competencies) necessary to influence without direct authority
• Mentor and develop future leaders within the organization, creating pathways for internal growth
• Identify and develop future leaders in the organization, creating pathways for internal growth.
• Build a culture of accountability, setting clear expectations and empowering team members to make sound decisions independently.
• Analyze market trends, disruptive forces, and financial levers to inform strategy.
• Develop future- and current-state models to support strategic decision-making.
• Align business and IT through technology-enabled business models and roadmaps.
• Address execution challenges while balancing innovation and growth.
• Identify and assess disruptive technologies and innovation opportunities.
• Provide actionable insights and manage innovation execution using agile methods.
• Act as a trusted advisor to business leaders on technology investments.
• Develop consumable, timely architecture guidance to support strategic decisions.
• Facilitate cross-functional collaboration and stakeholder alignment.
• Lead the evaluation and strategic adoption of disruptive technologies, including Generative AI, machine learning, and advanced data paradigms.
• Establish safe, ethical, and scalable frameworks for AI implementation.

Benefits

• sabbatical program
• tuition assistance
• flexible work arrangements
• comprehensive health insurance, which includes medical, prescription drug, mental health, dental and vision coverage
• life insurance

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Associate degree