Director, Impact Reporting & ESG Governance

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 outstanding benefits including a sabbatical program, tuition assistance and flexible work arrangements.

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!

McDonald's Global Impact team is aligned around a mission to make McDonald’s one of the most respected, trusted, and admired brands in the world. We will do this through actions to drive responsible business growth, investments to foster community, values-based advocacy, and compelling communications that matter to our customers, our System and our global partners. Read more about our Purpose & Impact here.

Within Global Impact, the Sustainability & ESG Center of Excellence oversees McDonald’s enterprise social and environmental impact strategies, goals, and commitment to transparency, partnering with teams around McDonald’s and beyond to drive responsible growth, industry-wide transformation, risk mitigation and resiliency for our System and communities. Together with our partners, we take a forward-looking and collaborative approach in responding to the latest science and industry trends, listening to the advice and expectations of key stakeholders, and staying in line with evolving regulation. This includes:

• Managing enterprise strategies and partnerships related to our people and communities - advancing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) for key stakeholders internally and externally; protecting and respecting human rights; and taking care of our communities through engagement, volunteering and philanthropy, especially in times of need.
• Managing enterprise strategies and partnerships related to our food and planet impact - nutrition and choice across the menu; responsible sourcing practices; how we design and operate restaurants for a more sustainable customer and employee experience; and how we drive circularity, climate action, water stewardship and nature-based solutions to ensure the long-term resiliency of our communities and the ecosystems we depend on.
• Measuring and communicating progress transparently on key impact metrics and business insights related to priority Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) issues, risks and growth opportunities.

The Director of Impact Reporting & ESG Governance serves on Global Impact’s Sustainability & ESG leadership team and will manage McDonald’s global Purpose & Impact reporting strategy, team and related external engagement. This position also co-leads enterprise governance for ESG strategy and disclosures oversight with partners in Global Impact, Finance, Legal and teams across the business managing strategies, implementation and progress tracking for McDonald’s environmental and social impact goals.

Job Responsibilities:

• Manage enterprise Impact Reporting and ESG Governance team and contribute to Sustainability & ESG COE leadership team.
  • Includes inclusive leadership and values-based talent development strategy for 3 direct and indirect reports.
  • Partner with Chief Sustainability & Social Impact Officer and rest of leadership team to manage Sustainability & ESG Center of Excellence and meaningfully contribute to McDonald’s Global Impact function leadership.

• Oversee strategy and timely delivery of McDonald’s annual Purpose & Impact (ESG) reporting (voluntary/non-regulated), and related internal and external engagements
  • Includes managing reporting strategy, design, agency partners and internal processes to deliver holistic purpose, impact & ESG content for owned, voluntary reporting channels (e.g Purpose & Impact website, PDF reports) and relevant 3rd party benchmarks (e.g. ISSB/SASB, TCFD, CDP, MSCI, ISS, SustainAlytics, Bloomberg GEI, UNGPR, etc.)
  • Partner with social and environmental Impact leads and market teams around the business to assess and manage qualitative and quantitative reporting needs for enterprise reporting suite, and design and deliver issue-specific reports and snapshots, when relevant (e.g. DEI, Climate Risk & Resiliency)
  • With Investor Relations and Corporate Secretary’s Office, co-manage enterprise responses to ESG & Impact-related shareholder inquiries and proposals, leadership outreach, and advise on regulated ESG reporting.
  • Partner with Government Relations & Public Policy COE to ensure efficient responses to additional stakeholders’ ESG inquiries, as needed.
  • Support market teams in identifying and delivering local Impact/ESG reporting, where relevant as part of holistic local Impact plans

• Co-lead enterprise governance and centralized accountabilities for ESG strategy, metrics and disclosures, along with Finance team’s ESG Controllership, Legal, and partner teams around business.
  • Coordinate cross-functional ESG Disclosure Committee agenda for senior leader oversight and accountability of enterprise ESG commitments, metrics and disclosures
  • Manage cross-functional working group (Council) and enterprise ESG Management & Disclosure Policy governing ESG strategy, metrics, disclosures, and engagement, including internally monitoring progress, evolution and remediation steps across public goals and disclosed metrics to ensure integrity and achieve stated outcomes.
  • Collaborate with Director-Impact Insights & Value Strategy and global cross-functional partners to ensure relevant ESG impact metrics, data systems, technology platform integration and sustainable financing opportunities are evolving in line with internal and external reporting needs.
  • With Director-Impact Insights & Value Strategy, advise and support ESG Controllership/Finance, Legal and related Impact teams on evolving internal processes and controls for ESG data integrity and disclosures.
• Ensure monitoring and strategic responses to evolving sector trends in corporate impact and ESG strategy, reporting, rankings, third party benchmarks, and regulations.
  • Partner with Government Relations & Public Policy COE and Market/Segment Impact teams to assess and prepare to operationalize evolving global requirements related to ESG metrics transparency and disclosure regulations (e.g. US SEC, EU, UK, etc.)
  • Support market/country teams in local ESG governance and disclosures, as needed.
• Foster McDonald’s external ESG network, build relationships and represent McDonald’s Impact & ESG strategies externally at multi-stakeholder convenings, conferences and events, as relevant, to stay abreast of industry insights and ensure the field is aware of McDonald’s actions and leadership.

• Deep understanding of environmental, social, governance (ESG) and impact issues facing the food and restaurants sector, and related transparency and regulatory trends.
• Experience leading, advising and/or implementing corporate sustainability-, impact-, or ESG-related communications and reporting strategy, with demonstrated ability to connect impact insights to business value.
• Strong understanding and experience navigating the landscape of credible 3rd party ESG and sustainability metrics and reporting standards, benchmarks, rankings and disclosure platforms (e.g. CDP, ISSB, MSCI, etc.) – both general and issue-specific.
• Demonstrated understanding and experience managing ESG-related shareholder proposals and engagement on behalf of publicly traded companies.
• Enterprise-thinking strategist with experience distilling outside insights and influencing action across complex, matrixed organizations.
• Demonstrated ability to proactively identify ESG opportunities and risks, and to partner with the right teams internally and externally to find appropriate solutions in light of evolving ESG landscape, innovations, stakeholder expectations, regulation and other macro trends.
• Values-driven and inclusive leader with experience fostering collaborative teams and accountability - both direct and indirect- in a fast-paced corporate environment.
• Exceptional written, verbal and influencing communication skills, professionalism, flexibility, and personability
• Strong desire to work in a dynamic corporate environment, across leadership levels and with multiple cross-functional teams around the world.
• Preference for advanced degree or equivalent experience (8-10 yrs) in business, communications/public affairs, sustainability, ESG, or a related discipline.

Good to know; We have flexibility for the successful applicant to be located at 'MHQ' in Chicago or our Shoreditch office in the UK. Relocation support will not be provided.

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.