Director, AI Engineering

McDonald's evolving Accelerating the Arches growth strategy puts our customers and people first and demonstrates our competitive advantages to strengthen our brand. We are recognized on lists like Fortune’s Most Admired Companies and Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies.

Doubling Down on the 4Ds (Delivery, Digital, Drive Thru, and Development)

Our growth pillars emphasize the critical role technology plays as the best-in-class, global omni-channel restaurant brand. Technology enables the organization through digital technologies, and improving the customer, crew and employee experience each and every day!

Global Technology forging the way

Leading the digitization of our business is the Technology organization made up of innovation specialists who build industry defining tech using the latest innovations and platforms, like AI and edge computing to deliver on the next set of groundbreaking opportunities for the business. We take on technology innovation challenges at an incredible scale, and work across global teams who are always hungry for a challenge! This provides access to compelling career paths for technologists. It’s bonus points when you get to see your family and friends use the tech you build at their favorite McD restaurant.

This senior Gen AI and AI software engineering leadership role is pivotal in delivering strategic Generative AI (GenAI) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) initiatives that will transform McDonald’s. You will be responsible for leading an engineering team that builds GenAI & AI products, GenAI & AI product components, and GenAI & AI powered prototypes. You will need to foster a culture of innovation and ensure ongoing alignment of initiatives with evolving business strategies, at a global level. 

Responsibilities  

• Lead, mentor, and manage a team of software engineers, in building GenAI-powered products, GenAI product components, and GenAI prototypes to help drive value for McDonald’s in leveraging new GenAI technology to create value. This work will include assessing & integrating GenAI into our existing products and systems to boost efficiency, personalize consumer experiences, and create entirely new offerings.  
• Passionate about customer success with what your teams build. Take care to measure and monitor, that what your teams build is used, and useful to driving business outcomes 
• Collaboratively power corporate and market usage of Enterprise-hardened GenAI end-user tools 
• Manage resources and project timelines to ensure successful delivery of projects and deliverables 
• Stay up-to-date with the latest developments in GenAI, and related areas, and leverage this knowledge to drive innovation 
• Ensure the ethical use of AI, adhering to best practices and guidelines 
• Work effectively in a cross-functional team to collaborate with different global functions and markets.  
• Inspire and motivate your team, and foster a positive and productive work environment consistent with McDonald’s values 

• Hands on engineering experience with production ready Gen AI & AI application. At least 10 years of experience in software, including building enterprise-grade systems. Should include several years leading an engineering team and work with AI/ML 
• Expert on industry trends and various LLMs, including LLM Application development tools & frameworks 
• Excellent communication and storytelling skills  
• Passionate engineering leader with experience building high performance teams, must lead and manage a team of software engineers, that includes backend, frontend, some design, etc  
• At least bachelor’s or Master's degree in Computer Science, AI, or a related area 
• Proficiency in stakeholder management to effectively communicate and manage expectations of those linked to the work outside your team 
• Proficiency in project management, resource allocation and budgeting to ensure timely, efficient and successful delivery of outcomes 
• Experience in strategic planning and execution with strong decision-making skills to align initiatives with business goals and make informed choices that benefit the organization 
• Some experience in handling compliance and regulatory requirements to ensure engineering practices adhere to relevant laws and regulations 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Experience in foodservice, retail or hospitality  
• Relevant cloud certifications, especially on GCP 

McDonald’s is an equal opportunity employer committed to the diversity of our workforce. We promote an inclusive work environment that creates feel-good moments for everyone. McDonald’s provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities as part of the application or hiring process or to perform the essential functions of their job. If you need assistance accessing or reading this job posting or otherwise feel you need an accommodation during the application or hiring process, please contact [email protected]. Reasonable accommodations will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

McDonald’s provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to sex, sex stereotyping, pregnancy (including pregnancy, childbirth, and medical conditions related to pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding), race, color, religion, ancestry or national origin, age, disability status, medical condition, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, protected military or veteran status, citizenship status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

Nothing in this job posting or description should be construed as an offer or guarantee of employment.