Consultant, Tech Deployment

About Us

McDonalds has run its business in the UK since 1974 and currently operates over 1500 restaurants across the UK and Ireland, serving almost four million customers each day. McDonalds is one of the UKs largest private sector employers, employing over 170,000 people.

Department Overview

You will work as part of the Deployment & Testing team which forms part of the wider Technology team for the UK&I and Global business. We are a high energy team, looking for an individual who can add their talent and personality to make us even better. This role will be supported by two analysts and one project manager per new product feature.

Who are my customers?

• Technology Senior Leadership Team
• Global Technology colleagues in other McDonald’s markets and those working in global and segment functions.
• Work closely with all Grade 4 pillar leads to ensure we have plans fully understood and aligned throughout the year.
• Working with internal functions such as Marketing, Restaurant Solutions Group (Operations), Supply Chain etc. if there is any required cross collaboration efforts and alignment against the Technology Team plans and future strategy.

Duties

In this impactful role, you will be accountable for creating and maintaining a single, integrated view of all Technology activity across the UK & Ireland team, enabling clear prioritisation, alignment and delivery of our Technology strategy and NEXT initiatives. You will bring together and actively manage a holistic view of:

• Business as Usual activity (e.g. lifecycle management, code releases across restaurant and corporate platforms)
• Strategic technology initiatives (e.g. Edge, GRNT, Thin Clients)
• Transformation programmes (e.g. EDAA, GI Mod PE3)
• Critical dependencies (e.g. PIM)
• Decommissioning, technical debt and standardisation activities (e.g. AS400, ODS)

To successfully achieve this, you will establish and manage a structured Intake and Planning process, ensuring all work is consistently captured, understood, prioritised and sequenced across the Technology team. This is an active management role, not purely reporting or audit-focused. You will partner closely with the Technology and Transformation teams to ensure plans are practical, balanced and deliverable.

You will lead the creation and ongoing management of:

• A 3–5 year strategic roadmap, providing a clear view of where we are going and how we will get there
• A rolling 12–18 month detailed delivery plan, covering all workstreams, including dependencies, resource allocation and cost implications

This role will be critical in ensuring we can identify risks early, actively manage interdependencies, and optimise delivery capacity across all Technology work. Alongside this, there is a strong opportunity to leverage AI and automation to improve planning efficiency, accuracy and insight, and we are looking for someone with the curiosity and interest to explore how these capabilities can enhance the function.

What will my accountabilities be?

• Own and maintain a single, integrated view of all Technology work across BAU, strategic initiatives, transformation programmes, dependencies, and technical debt
• Define, implement and manage a robust Intake and Planning process for all Technology demand
• Develop and maintain:
• A 3–5 year strategic roadmap aligned to Technology strategy and NEXT initiatives
• A rolling 12–18 month detailed plan, including dependencies, sequencing, resource allocation and cost implications
• Actively manage interdependencies, scheduling and capacity planning across all Technology pillars to optimise delivery and reduce bottlenecks
• Identify and proactively manage delivery risks, pinch points and resource constraints, enabling early intervention and decision-making
• Ensure strong alignment between UK&I market plans, Global Technology timelines and Transformation portfolio plans
• Partner with Technology SLT and pillar leads to ensure priorities are clearly understood, aligned and deliverable
• Provide clear, actionable insights to leadership to support prioritisation, scheduling, resourcing and cost decisions
• Monitor Technology expenditure, forecasting and budget vs. actuals, ensuring alignment with delivery plans
• Represent the UK&I market in Global Technology planning cycles across the LIOM, ensuring alignment of inputs and outputs
• Continuously improve planning processes, leveraging tools, automation and AI to drive efficiency and accuracy

Key Priorities

• Primary focus: Effective scheduling of work, management of interdependencies, and optimisation of resource allocation across the Technology portfolio
• Supporting focus: Strong cost visibility and management aligned to delivery plans
• Driving clarity, transparency and predictability across all Technology activity

Qualifications

An individual who understands the importance of building relationships, with excellent curiosity, communication and influencing skills, will do well in this role. A strong planning mindset, attention to detail, and the ability to align a large and complex team will be critical to success.

An individual fulfilling this role will be passionate about and demonstrate success in:

• Leading or supporting complex planning, coordination or portfolio management activities across multiple delivery streams
• Managing dependencies, sequencing and resource planning in a Technology environment
• Working in an active, hands-on role focused on enabling delivery rather than purely reporting
• Building strong relationships and partnering effectively across Technology and Transformation teams
• Presenting to senior audiences and influencing decision-making across multiple stakeholders

Additionally:

• Previous deployment experience required with a sound understanding of financial planning is essential
• Proven success record in strong communication skills – written, verbal and presentation
• Experience in project/programme management and ways of working

Desirable:

• Interest or experience in leveraging AI and automation to improve planning and operational efficiency
• Experience using Excel, Power BI, Smartsheet and Confluence

Company Vision and Culture

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

At McDonalds we are People from all Walks of Life... People are at the heart of everything we do, and they make the McDonalds 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 McDonalds or elsewhere.