Commercial Strategy Manager

McDonald’s has run its business in the UK since 1974 and celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The business currently operates over 1,450 restaurants across the UK and Ireland, serving almost four million customers each day. McDonald’s is one of the UK’s largest private sector employers, employing over 177,000 people.

McDonald’s UK & Ireland has a proven track record of investing in the development of its employees and offering flexibility as part of its dedication to being a modern and progressive company. Every year, it invests over £40 million in developing people, giving every one of its employees the opportunity to take part in structured training.

McDonald’s buys ingredients from over 23,000 British and Irish farmers and spends over £1.1billion annually on its food and packaging requirements. McDonald’s is committed to supporting British and Irish farmers to ensure it can continue to source many of its ingredients from the UK and Ireland.

McDonald’s is a market leader in its field, striving for the highest standard of quality, speed and restaurant experience. Re-generation of our restaurant infrastructure, covering digital ordering, re-imaging and dual-point service make working at McDonald’s more exciting than ever!

We are dedicated to using our scale for good: good for people, our industry and the planet. From bold recycling initiatives and sustainable sourcing efforts to our partnership with Ronald McDonald House Charities, we see every day as a chance to have a genuine impact on our customers, our people and our partners.

We're a people business just as much as we are a restaurant business. We strive to be the most inclusive brand in the world by building diverse teams who create delicious, feel-good moments that are easy for everyone to enjoy. Joining McDonald's means thinking big every day and preparing for a career that can have impact around the world.

Company Vision and Culture…

Our Global vision is to build a better McDonald’s and, in the UK, and Ireland we are working hard to be the UK & Irelands best-loved restaurant company.

McDonald’s is defined by its culture. Our culture shapes and informs everything we think and everything we do. Our culture influences the way we interact with each other, and how we interact with customers, franchisees and suppliers. Our culture motivates and inspires us to attract and retain great talent, creating positive, energising, exceptional working environment for us all.

Our values drive our culture and shape our beliefs, our priorities and our actions. They influence the decisions we make, how we treat one another and how we show up as a brand to the world.

Serve: We put our customers and our people first
Inclusion: We open our doors to everyone
Integrity: We do the right thing
Community: We are good neighbours
Family: We get better together

Hybrid Working
This role is based in our East Finchley office working 3 days in the office and 2 days remotely

The Opportunity
We are looking for a dynamic, commercially minded and forward-thinking Commercial Strategy Manager to join the Business Insights team here at McDonald’s. Reporting into the Senior Manager, Business Strategy and Insights, your role is to drive change through actionable commercial insight by acting as a trusted strategic advisor across the business and supporting the delivery of strategic objectives through customer-centric commercial initiatives.

What will my accountabilities be?
This busy and fast-paced role will primarily face into Marketing, Food Development and Finance, and support other areas of the business on an ad hoc basis. Responsibilities include:

• Product Category Management: Collaborating closely with Food Development and Marketing to define product category strategies by using internal and external data to identify customer-centric propositions that meet our commercial business objectives
• Promotional Planning: Analysing promotional product performance and making recommendations for future promotional activity, including product proposition and price recommendations and volume forecasts
• Pricing: Collaborating closely with Finance and external agencies to determine product level pricing recommendations for our Franchisee partners, informed by understanding product level elasticity, consumer insight and competitor activity
• Performance reporting: Communicating latest business commercial performance with diverse sets of stakeholders, including UK&I leadership group
• Strategic Scenario Planning: Working cross-functionally and with the UK&I leadership group to identify opportunities to maximise commercial returns in a customer-centric manner
• Competitor and market data analysis: Owning relationships with external market data providers. Integrating this data and insights from multiple other sources to provide a strong understanding of our position within the market, and trends affecting our customers behaviour
• Guiding and developing analysts in the team, ensuring they are adding value to the business, and developing as future business leaders

What Team will I be a part?
The Business Insights team is responsible for strategic commercial planning, analysis and reporting, and advising how best to shape the McDonald’s offer and menu to meet business objectives. The wider Strategy department includes Consumer Insights, who are responsible for informing on how best to meet the needs of our customers

Who are my customers?
This high-profile role will include working with and building relationships with a wide variety of partners across the business including Marketing, Food Development, Finance, Supply Chain, Operations, external agencies and Franchisees, with regular interactions with senior (board-level) stakeholders

What background do I need to have?

• Proven experience in category management, with a strong understanding of ranging, pricing and promotional planning best practice (ideally in food / retail)
• Confident presenter with strong interpersonal skills and a track record of interacting with & influencing senior stakeholders
• Strong commercial acumen, experience working within commercial roles preferred
• Analytical competence: strong grasp of Microsoft applications (Excel & PowerPoint) required. Experience using tools such as Tableau and Alteryx an advantage 
• Experience of translating analysis into clear actionable insights
• Evidence of operating at a strategic level and ability to influence others
• Ability to multitask in a fast-paced environment is fundamental
• Ability to translate complex challenges into something simple to understand and act on
• Ability to work collaboratively and cross functionally, building relationships with stakeholders
• Line management experience preferable, alongside an ability to nurture & develop direct reports

At McDonald’s we are People from all Walks of Life... 

People are at the heart of everything we do, and they make the McDonald’s experience. We embrace diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive culture that means people can be their best authentic self in our restaurants and offices, which helps us to better serve our customers. We have a strong heritage of diversity and representation within our communities, which we are proud of. The diversity of our people, customers, Franchisees and suppliers gives us strength.

We do not tolerate inequality, injustice or discrimination of any kind.  These are hugely important issues and a brand with our reach and relevance means we have a very meaningful role to play.

We also recognise our responsibility as a large employer to continue being active in our communities, helping to develop skills and drive aspirations that will help people to be more aware of the world of work and more successful within it, whether with McDonald’s or elsewhere.”

#LI-Hybrid