Director of Sustainability—Nature and Climate

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!

Job Description

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.

The Director of Sustainability-Nature & Climate on Global Impact’s Sustainability & ESG team will play a leadership role in developing McDonald’s Global Impact strategy for Forests, Climate and Water and other nature-based solutions, with a primary focus on supply chain impacts. This role will work in close partnership with our Global Supply Chain and other branches of the Global Sustainability & ESG team. Reporting into our Chief Sustainability Officer, the role will entail:

Lead McDonald’s global Commitment on Forests and nature-based solutions strategy

• Develop McDonald’s strategy for our 2030 Commitment on Forests and manage considerations to expand to broader strategy on nature
• Develop overarching strategy for the company, including exploring opportunities to evolve McDonald’s existing forests commitments
• Ensure credibility with key stakeholders in light of evolving trends and science, assessing priority areas and commodities
• Partner to craft implementation plans and manage appropriate measurement system to track progress with Global Supply Chain, suppliers and other partners.
• Support ongoing compliance with McDonald’s 2020 Commitment on Forests, as needed.
• Act as McDonald’s subject matter expert on forests across the business including leadership presentations, enterprise risk management, internal & external communications, government relations engagement, and more

Oversee McDonald’s global Climate & Water strategy

• Oversee and support McDonald’s Global Climate Action strategy with SMEs across functions, markets, McDonald’s System partners, and external advisors
• Oversee and integrate climate action and resiliency plans for the supply chain, specifically focusing on future strategy development, alignment with other sustainable sourcing priorities, and the intersection between climate, nature, water and conversations on public health, human rights and diversity, equity & inclusion.
• Oversee McDonald’s global position and supporting strategy on water, using existing workstreams on this impact area, with a particular focus on supply chain water impacts.

Lead industry transformation efforts and manage strategic partnerships for all of the above, including representing McDonald’s at internal and external events.

Team management and alignment

• Act as key connection and relationship manager between Global Impact and Global Supply Chain on sustainable sourcing priorities for food
• Partner closely with Sustainable Restaurants & Customer Experience team, Sustainability & ESG Strategy team, Supply Chain Sustainable Sourcing & Resiliency team and other partners on forests/climate/water strategy integration and risk management, including measurement of value creation for the system
• Lead a team and network of passionate sustainability professionals at McDonald’s and partner organizations
• Team administration, budget management and planning

Qualifications

• Demonstrated ability working in a sustainability role within a global corporation or organization with a focus on nature, forests, climate, and/or water required
• Proven experience in a leadership role, within industry working groups, establishing a strong stakeholder network required
• Advanced degree in sustainability, business, and nature, such as an MBA or Masters in Sustainability preferred
• Deep knowledge of sustainability, supply chains, agriculture and global business
• Ability to develop practical business strategies for complex global sustainability impact areas
• Enterprise mindset and ability to navigate sensitive topics with many diverse partners internally and externally
• Ability to engage many audiences across industries, geographies and cultures
• A high level of communication, flexibility and interpersonal skills, often working with global, virtual and cross-functional teams
• Additional languages a benefit (particularly Spanish and Portuguese)

To Apply

This role can be done remotely from a variety of global locations within reasonable distance from a McDonald’s office location, or from our headquarters in Chicago, IL, US.

• Candidates in the US, please apply at https://jobs.smartrecruiters.com/McDonaldsCorporation/
• Candidates outside the US, please apply at https://smrtr.io/5hm4K