Network Architect - Edge Network & Innovation

McDonald’s is proud to be one of the most recognized brands in the world, with restaurants in over 100 countries that serve 70 million customers daily. As the global leader in the food service industry, our legacy of innovation and hard work continues to drive us.
From drive thru updates to delivery to mobile order and pay, we are innovating quickly and growing. Joining McDonald's means thinking big and preparing for a career that can have influence around the world.

At McDonald’s, we see every day as a chance to create positive impact. We lead through our values centered on inclusivity, service, integrity, community and family. From support of Ronald McDonald House Charities to our Youth Opportunity project and sustainability initiatives, our values keep us dedicated to using our scale for good: good for our customers, people, industry and planet. We also offer a broad range of outstanding benefits including a sabbatical program, tuition assistance and flexible work arrangements - check them out here!

While most of us are working remote during COVID-19, we're excited to get back to our state-of-the-art headquarters in the booming West Loop of downtown Chicago! It's set up to be a global hub that cultivates collaboration:

• Take a class at Hamburger University
• Sample future items in our Test Kitchen
• Utilize the latest technology to connect with your team around the globe

We are an equal opportunity employer committed to the diversity of our crew members, staff, operators, and suppliers. We promote an inclusive work environment that creates feel-good moments for everyone. We are interested in people who enhance our company culture: Does this role interest you? We encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet every single requirement!

As McDonald’s continues to innovate and disrupt the restaurant industry, we are looking to add an experienced Network Architect who will lead network architecture across McDonald’s network landscape, acting as a product owner focusing on the Restaurant and Office network standardization and Innovation.

In this role, you will partner with application stakeholders, solutions architects, network service managers and regional Technology leads to define requirements, develop strategy and design network infrastructure & services to meet the needs of the business.

This position will be based out of our headquarters in Chicago, with some time spent at our Innovation Center in Romeoville, IL.

We are looking for someone who is passionate about:

• Working with people across a global organization
• Evolving and modernizing technologies and services to align with business priorities
• Driving Standardization and Innovation linked to business benefits
• Capturing and understanding business/technical Technology infrastructure requirements
• Interacting with and influencing our Technology partners
• Serving as a technical domain expert

Responsibilities:

• Lead network architecture activities relating to office and restaurant WAN, LAN and WLAN standards
• Development of the office and restaurant WAN, LAN and WLAN strategy and roadmap in partnership with the network service managers
• Understand global and regional restaurant network requirements and lead transformation, standardization and innovation efforts
• Understand McDonald’s current restaurant landscape of tools, processes, standards, automation, monitoring, hardware and more
• Partner with internal application stakeholders, solutions architects, network service managers and market IT leads to define requirements, develop strategy and design network infrastructure and services to meet the needs of the business
• Lead the creation, definition, documentation and communication of network standards, blueprints and best practices for market and corporate customers
• Provide network expertise and leadership to the business and Technology functions
• Create and maintain strong relationships with corporate and market teams to ensure strong and effective engagement in technology discussions
• Lead Architecture Review Boards and Architecture Advisors Boards
• Partner with technical, and solution architects to ensure McDonald’s has a comprehensive architecture to support modern restaurants and offices, including:
  • Network reliability and scalability
  • Public and Private Cloud dependencies
  • Security constraints
  • IoT criticality
  • Data, AI, ML, NLP, Automation and more
• Lead assessments and vendor selection in order to develop and deploy cutting edge technical solutions, spanning beyond traditional technology
• Manage Projects, Lead products, Scrum teams and Agile ceremonies if needed
• Help create and enhance operational procedures

Must have received or be willing to receive the COVID-19 vaccination by date of hire to be considered. Proof of vaccination required.

Required Skills

• B.S/B.A degree Computer related technology or other with 5+ years of equivalent professional experience
• CCIE/CCNP/CCDP or equivalent certification is required
• 3+ years’ experience in an enterprise network design/architect role gained in large global organizations
• 2+ years of professional experience in most of the following technical network background areas: VPN, SD-WAN, MPLS, Cisco Routing & Switching, Cisco on premise and Meraki LAN & WLAN, high availability campus and WAN design architecture
• 2+ years of professional experience building, maintaining, and supporting environments in AWS or AZURE Cloud platforms
• 1+ years of experience working and collaborating in a globally dispersed team
• Great documentational skills and mindset of design and document first
• Superb communication, presentation and interpersonal skills, with the ability to convey complex ideas in easy-to-understand business friendly language.
• Ability to understand business challenges, drive process improvements and translate into solutions.
• Detail-oriented, with excellent analytical, technical, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to perform general mathematical calculations for the purpose of creating needs assessments, managing budgets, schedule, etc.
• Ability to conduct research into issues, solutions, products and evaluate emerging technologies, translating them into roadmaps and leadership presentation materials.

Desired skills:

• 2+ years of professional experience building, maintaining, and supporting environments in AWS or AZURE Cloud platforms
• 1+ years of professional experience with Cisco Meraki routing, switching and WLAN
• TOGAF, PMI PMP, ITIL, Scrum PAL-E and/or PSPO certification are advantageous
• Any experience of Infrastructure as Code (IaC), network automation and orchestration are advantageous
• Experience working with an Agile environment with a Scrum Master, Daily Scrum meetings, Sprints and written Stories and deliverables
• Experience of retail network environments with global branch, campus, data center and cloud environments
• Ability to perform general mathematical calculations for the purpose of creating needs assessments, managing budgets, schedule, etc.
• Motivation to use initiative to make an immediate impact in a fast paced and dynamic environment.
• Ability to think globally and strategically, to inspire change in a complex global organization.
• A customer-focused approach to liaise with internal customers (both IT and non-IT) through regular business engagements and service issues.
• A tried teammate with a willingness to learn, engage and establish relationships with both internal colleagues and external partners.
• A strong team player with a willingness to learn, engage and build relationships with both internal colleagues and external partners.
• Willing to be flexible and available for out of hours work if required.
• Comfortable with business travel (valid passport and ability to travel internationally)

McDonald’s is committed to providing qualified individuals with disabilities reasonable accommodations to perform the essential functions of their jobs. Additionally, if you (or another applicant of whom you are aware) require assistance accessing or reading this job posting or otherwise seek assistance in the application process, please contact recruiting.supportteam@us.mcd.com

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.