Sr Manager, Tech Platform Management at McDonald's: Lead Observability Innovation

Are you a seasoned technology leader passionate about observability platforms and driving enterprise-scale reliability? McDonald's Global Technology Infrastructure & Operations (GTIO) team is seeking a Sr Manager, Tech Platform Management - Observability to power the future of the world's leading omni-channel restaurant brand. This senior-level role offers the chance to shape McDonald's Accelerating the Arches strategy through cutting-edge technology.

Why Join McDonald's Global Technology?

McDonald's serves 65M+ customers daily across 25,000+ locations worldwide. Our growth hinges on the 3Ds: Delivery, Digital, and Drive-Thru. As part of GTIO's Service Management Office (SMO), you'll deliver modern foundational technology including Global Networking, Cloud, End User Computing, and IT Service Management. This role reports to the Director of Observability and focuses on ensuring platforms support unparalleled availability, reliability, and scalability for customer and store systems.

McDonald's Global Technology is at the forefront of AI, robotics, and emerging tech. We're digitizing the Golden Arches while leveraging our global scale to reshape the restaurant industry. Join a diverse team of top talent thriving in a high-energy, fast-paced environment where feel-good moments meet innovative technology.

Key Responsibilities: What You'll Do Daily

As Sr Manager, you'll coordinate teams and lead all aspects of product implementation:

• Oversee observability platforms (monitoring, logging, tracing) for 99.99% uptime
• Drive strategic decisions on platform architecture and vendor integrations
• Partner with Operations, Global Technology, Legal, and franchisees
• Manage key vendors like Splunk, Datadog, New Relic for optimal performance
• Scale observability solutions for hybrid cloud and on-prem environments
• Mentor engineers and build leadership pipeline through talent development
• Implement AI/ML for predictive analytics and anomaly detection
• Report KPIs on system health, MTTR, and capacity planning
• Collaborate on Accelerating the Arches initiatives like McDelivery and digital ordering
• Innovate End User Computing experiences for 200K+ employees

Required Skills and Qualifications

Success demands deep observability expertise and leadership prowess:

• 10+ years in infrastructure/operations with observability platform ownership
• Proven track record leading 10-20 person engineering teams
• Hands-on experience with Prometheus, Grafana, ELK Stack, or commercial tools
• Cloud certifications (AWS Solutions Architect, Azure DevOps) preferred
• Strong vendor management with SLAs and contract negotiations
• Excellent communicator who influences without authority
• Passion for McDonald's mission and customer-centric technology

Career Growth at McDonald's Technology

This role builds relationships across McDonald's ecosystem—from product owners to franchise operators. Advance to Director-level positions or pivot to emerging areas like AI-driven personalization. McDonald's invests in your growth with $10K annual education reimbursement, leadership training, and global mobility.

Competitive Compensation and Benefits

Earn $180K-$240K base + 25% bonus in Chicago, IL (relocation available). Enjoy comprehensive benefits including 401(k) match, 16 weeks parental leave, free meals, and hybrid flexibility. McDonald's technology roles rank among the best for work-life balance in fast food tech.

McDonald's Observability Challenges: Real-World Impact

Imagine preventing a global Drive-Thru outage during peak hours or predicting McDelivery surges with AI observability. Your platforms will handle petabyte-scale telemetry from 39,000 restaurants. This isn't just IT—it's mission-critical tech powering billions in revenue.

Day in the Life of a Sr Manager, Tech Platform Management

Start with standups reviewing overnight incidents. Dive into capacity planning for Black Friday rushes. Meet with vendors on Q4 roadmaps. Mentor junior engineers on SLO/SLI best practices. End with strategy sessions aligning observability to business OKRs. High-impact, collaborative, rewarding.

Why Observability Matters at McDonald's Scale

With millions of daily transactions, even 0.01% downtime costs millions. Your leadership ensures every app, from mobile ordering to kitchen displays, performs flawlessly. Leverage McDonald's scale for groundbreaking observability practices shared via our Technical Blog.

Apply Today: Shape the Future of Restaurant Tech

Ready to lead observability at the world's largest restaurant chain? This Sr Manager role offers unparalleled impact, compensation, and growth. McDonald's values diverse talent driving innovation. Submit your application now and join the team accelerating the Arches!

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