Principal Software Engineer

Company

Description:

McDonald’s growth strategy, Accelerating the Arches, encompasses all aspects of our business as the leading global omni-channel restaurant brand. As the consumer landscape shifts we are using our competitive advantages to further strengthen our brand. One of our core growth strategies is to Double Down on the 3

Ds (Delivery, Digital and Drive Thru). McDonald’s will accelerate technology innovation so 65M+ customers a day will experience a fast, easy experience, whether at one of our 25,000 and growing Drive thrus, through McDelivery, dine-in or takeaway.

McDonald’s Global Technology is here to power tomorrow’s feel-good moments.

That’s why you’ll find us at the forefront of transformative technology, exploring new and innovative ways to serve our millions of customers and spread happiness one delicious Hot Fudge Sundae-dipped fry at a time. Using AI, robotics and emerging tech, we’re digitizing the Golden Arches. Combine that with our unparalleled global scale, and we’re reshaping all areas of the business, industry and every community that is home to a McDonald’s restaurant.

We face complex tech challenges every day. But that’s where our diverse and talented teams come in. They’re made up of the best and brightest from all over the globe, and they thrive in the space where feel-good meets fast-paced.

Check out the McDonald’s Global Technology Technical Blog to learn how technology and our global team are directly enabling the Accelerating the Arches strategy.

As a Principal Engineer in Customer Technology, you are a trusted partner and strategic leader who helps craft the future of McDonald’s technology. You’ll define solutions to complex business and technical challenges, influencing multiple teams across critical platforms. Your work will drive innovation in McDonald’s Global Mobile App and Marketing technologies, ensuring scalable, high-performing solutions that improve customer experiences worldwide. Join McDonald’s and be part of a team that’s reimagining technology to create exceptional customer experiences at a global scale!

What You'll Do:

• Strategize & Solve: Understand McDonald’s business and technical environments to develop solutions that tackle complex business challenges.
• Innovate & Build: Lead the engineering design and development of iOS and Android applications, as well as cloud services, ensuring scalability, availability, and performance.
• Set the Vision: Partner with architecture and engineering teams to define and communicate technology strategies, ensuring alignment across platforms.
• Drive Best Practices: Champion agile, Dev Ops, and modern engineering principles, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Lead & Inspire: Guide high-performing engineering teams, offering mentorship, technical leadership, and coaching to build top‑tier technical talent.
• Experiment & Validate: Conduct proof‑of‑concepts (POCs) and prototypes to assess emerging technologies and their impact on business goals.

Education & Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience. Ongoing learning to stay ahead of technology trends.
• 12+ years of experience in software engineering, with a focus on mobile app development.
• 4+ years of strategic planning and technical leadership experience.
• Shown success in solving complex technical challenges across multiple platforms.
• Experience leading enterprise-scale solutions in a large organization with multiple business units.

Technical Expertise:

• Strong experience in mobile application development (iOS & Android) using Swift, Swift
  
  UI/UIKit, Kotlin/Android Java, and Jetpack Compose.
• Knowledge of microservices and event‑driven architecture, with hands‑on experience in Java, Kotlin, Spring Boot, Micronaut, and .NET.
• Expertise in databases and cloud technologies, including Mongo
  
  DB, Postgres, Elastic Search, Kafka, and React
  
  JS.

Leadership &

Collaboration:

• Ability to influence partners and align teams around technical strategies.
• Strong communication and storytelling skills to convey technical concepts clearly.
• A teammate who thrives in collaborative environments and fosters innovation.
• Proven track…