Sr Manager, Data Engineering

Company Description: 

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. We continue to operate from a position of strength. Our updated growth strategy is focused on staying ahead of what our customers want and realizing further growth potential. Our relentless ambition is why McDonald's remains one of the world's leading corporations after almost 70 years. 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. 

Department Overview

McDonald's is scaling its global data platform to deliver real-time, actionable insights that enhance operations and elevate the customer experience. Through Enterprise Data, Analytics, and AI (EDAA), we're enabling a smarter, more connected ecosystem—driven by cloud technology, automation, and intelligent data engineering.  ription here. 

The Opportunity 
We are looking for a Senior Machine Learning Engineer with strong technical expertise to design, build, and deploy scalable ML/AI solutions. In this role, you will be responsible for developing robust machine learning pipelines, optimizing model performance, and contributing to the design of ML/AI products that drive real business impact. You will collaborate closely with data scientists, product managers, and platform engineers to bring advanced ML capabilities into production.  

Duties

Key Responsibilities 

Partner with product and business teams to define problems and translate them into data-driven solutions. 

Conduct exploratory data analysis (EDA) and extract actionable insights from structured and unstructured datasets. 

Develop, validate, and iterate on predictive models using techniques in supervised, unsupervised, and/or time series learning. 

Communicate modeling outcomes through clear visualizations and presentations to both technical and non-technical stakeholders. 

Design, build, and optimize end-to-end machine learning pipelines — from data ingestion and feature engineering to model training, evaluation, and deployment. 

Develop and maintain scalable ML infrastructure to support both batch and real-time inference. 

Build high-performing models for forecasting, prediction, recommendation, or intelligent automation, depending on business use cases. 

Collaborate with cross-functional teams to translate business problems into effective ML solutions. 

Conduct feature selection, model tuning, and performance optimization to ensure production-grade reliability and scalability. 

Implement monitoring, retraining, and evaluation strategies to maintain model quality over time. 

Explore and apply state-of-the-art ML/AI methods, including deep learning, generative AI, and agentic frameworks where applicable. 

Ensure best practices in ML engineering, including version control, CI/CD, MLOps, and documentation. 

Qualifications

Qualifications

Master's and plus degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related technical field (PhD is a plus).

5+ years of hands-on experience in machine learning, AI engineering, or related fields.

Strong proficiency in Python and common ML libraries such as scikit-learn, TensorFlow, PyTorch.

Solid understanding of ML concepts including feature engineering, model selection, hyperparameter tuning, and evaluation metrics.

Experience building production-grade ML systems, including model serving and monitoring.

Proficiency with modern MLOps tools (e.g., MLflow, Kubeflow, Airflow, CI/CD frameworks).

Experience with cloud platforms such as Google Cloud Platform, Amazon Web Services.

Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to work independently on complex technical challenges.

Preferred:

Familiar with McDonald's business

Experience with time series forecasting, LLMs, or AI agent frameworks.

Familiarity with distributed training and large-scale model deployment.

Experience applying advanced techniques such as reinforcement learning, generative AI, or retrieval-augmented generation (RAG).

Contributions to open-source ML frameworks or research publications.

Compensation

Bonus Eligible: Yes

Long - Term Incentive: Yes

Benefits Eligible: Yes

Salary Range

The expected salary range for this role is $149,260 - $190,310 per year
 
The above represents the expected salary range for this job requisition. Ultimately, in determining your pay, we may also consider your experience, and other job-related factors.

Competencies
Execution Proficiency Background & Values Strategic Proficiency Building Blocks Talent Proficiency

Additional Information: 

Benefits eligible: This position offers health and welfare benefits, a 401(k) plan, adoption assistance program, educational assistance program, flexible ways of working, and time off policies (including sick leave, parental leave, and vacation/PTO). Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on job classification and length of employment.  

Bonus eligible: This position is eligible for a bonus, calculated based on individual and company performance. 

Long term Incentive eligible: This position is eligible for stock or other equity grants pursuant to McDonald's long-term incentive plan. 

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 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. 

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