Tech Platform Engineer III Careers at McDonald's - Chicago, IL | Apply Now!
Join McDonald's Global Technology team as a Tech Platform Engineer III and power the future of the world's leading omni-channel restaurant brand. With our Accelerating the Arches strategy focusing on Delivery, Digital, and Drive Thru, we're building cutting-edge GCP-based data platforms that serve 65M+ customers daily.
Why Join McDonald's as a Tech Platform Engineer III?
McDonald's isn't just fast food—it's a technology powerhouse. Our Global Technology team is at the forefront of AI, robotics, and digital transformation. As a Tech Platform Engineer III, you'll design and deliver scalable data platforms that enable analytics, machine learning, and GenAI initiatives across our 25,000+ restaurants worldwide.
This senior-level role offers the perfect blend of hands-on engineering and strategic platform design. Work with GCP's full suite of data services while collaborating with diverse teams driving real business impact.
Key Responsibilities: Tech Platform Engineer III at McDonald's
- Platform Solution Design: Architect scalable, secure GCP data platform components optimized for cost and performance.
- Data Pipeline Development: Build robust ETL/ELT pipelines using Dataflow, Pub/Sub, and dbt for batch and streaming workloads.
- AI Platform Enablement: Implement features supporting GenAI, LLMs, and agentic AI including monitoring and automation.
- Event Streaming Architecture: Design real-time data integration patterns with Kafka, Pub/Sub, and Apache Beam.
- Infrastructure Automation: Leverage Terraform and Cloud Build for Infrastructure as Code deployments.
- Performance Optimization: Tune BigQuery queries, Dataflow jobs, and platform services for enterprise scale.
- Cross-Team Collaboration: Partner with data scientists, ML engineers, and product teams to deliver end-to-end solutions.
- Platform Governance: Establish standards for data quality, security, and compliance across analytics workloads.
- Cost Management: Implement FinOps practices and cloud cost optimization strategies.
- Observability & Monitoring: Build comprehensive monitoring solutions using Cloud Operations Suite.
Required Skills & Qualifications
To succeed as a McDonald's Tech Platform Engineer III, you'll need:
- 5+ years of data/platform engineering experience with GCP expertise
- Deep knowledge of GCP data services (Dataflow, BigQuery, Pub/Sub, Dataproc)
- Proven ETL/ELT pipeline development with dbt, Airflow, or Spark
- Event streaming experience with Kafka, Pub/Sub, or Kinesis
- Strong Python/Java programming for data processing
- Infrastructure as Code with Terraform or similar
- Experience with containerization (Kubernetes, Docker)
- Understanding of AI/ML platform requirements
McDonald's Technology Stack for Data Platform Engineers
Work with industry-leading technologies:
- Cloud: Google Cloud Platform (primary), multi-cloud experience
- Data Processing: Dataflow, Dataproc, BigQuery
- Streaming: Pub/Sub, Kafka, Apache Beam
- Orchestration: Cloud Composer (Airflow), Kubeflow
- Transformation: dbt, SQL
- CI/CD: Cloud Build, GitHub Actions
- IaC: Terraform, Deployment Manager
Career Growth & Development
McDonald's invests heavily in employee growth:
- Google Cloud certification reimbursement (Professional Data Engineer, etc.)
- Annual tech conference budget
- Mentorship programs with senior architects
- Clear promotion paths to Principal Engineer and Architect roles
- Internal tech talks and hackathons
Work-Life Balance & Culture
Enjoy flexible hybrid work, unlimited PTO, free meals, and a collaborative culture where your work directly impacts millions of customers daily. Our Chicago headquarters offers modern workspaces with on-site gyms and restaurants.
Salary & Compensation: Tech Platform Engineer III
Competitive salary range of $145,000 - $185,000 base, plus performance bonuses, stock options, and comprehensive benefits. Total compensation often exceeds $220K for top performers.
Ready to Accelerate the Arches?
Apply now to join McDonald's Global Technology and build data platforms powering the future of fast food. Check our Technical Blog to see how our engineers are transforming the industry.
Recent McDonald's Tech Blog Highlights
- GCP migration serving 65M daily transactions
- Real-time personalization at scale
- AI-driven menu optimization
- Global data platform architecture
McDonald's is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion.
