McDonald's · 1 day ago
Sr Director, Cyber Defense
Chicago, IL
Full-time
Hybrid
Director/Executive
$222K/yr - $289K/yr
12+ years expMcDonald's is seeking a Senior Director of Global Cyber Defense to lead their enterprise efforts in detecting, responding to, and mitigating cyber threats. This role involves overseeing multiple security functions and building a mature Cyber Defense organization to protect the brand and ensure operational excellence across global markets.
Restaurants
Responsibilities
Define and execute the global Cyber Defense strategy, ensuring alignment with enterprise risk management, brand protection, and the Accelerating the Arches vision
Partner closely with the CISO, Global Technology leadership, and regional CIOs to deliver unified detection, response, and threat-hunting capabilities across corporate, market, and restaurant environments
Establish measurable performance outcomes and global service metrics that ensure consistent quality, responsiveness, and transparency across all global markets
Represent Cyber Defense during major incidents, executive briefings, and board-level discussions, serving as a key enterprise spokesperson during cybersecurity events and crisis management activities
Oversee the Global Security Operations Center (GSOC) to ensure 24x7 detection, response, and containment of threats across global networks, cloud environments, and restaurant technologies
Lead enterprise-wide incident response, forensics, and post-incident review processes, ensuring rapid mitigation and continuous improvement
Manage global threat intelligence programs to identify, assess, and prioritize emerging risks relevant to McDonald’s operations, supply chain, and digital ecosystem
Direct the insider threat program, balancing risk detection with privacy and compliance considerations
Lead the Offensive Security and Red Team functions responsible for testing McDonald’s global technology and application ecosystem, validating resilience across platforms that power restaurant, customer, and market operations
Oversee the development and tuning of global detection and response content, automation, and telemetry pipelines across endpoint, network, and cloud environments
Build and scale Cyber Defense as a shared service to McDonald’s global markets, owner-operators, and affiliates of varying maturity
Establish frameworks for onboarding, service levels, and operational playbooks that ensure consistency and flexibility across different market models
Collaborate with regional technology teams to integrate detection, response, and intelligence capabilities while respecting sovereignty and local regulatory requirements
Partner with Enterprise Architecture, Identity, and Endpoint teams to ensure a cohesive 'defense-in-depth' architecture supporting both corporate and restaurant systems
Lead a global team of directors, managers, analysts, and engineers, fostering a culture of operational excellence, accountability, and continuous improvement
Mentor and develop future cybersecurity leaders with a focus on diversity, collaboration, and empowerment
Champion McDonald’s values of Serve, Inclusion, Integrity, Community, and Family across all aspects of Cyber Defense
Qualification
Required
12+ years of experience in cybersecurity operations, incident response, or threat management, with at least 5 years in senior leadership capacity
Demonstrated experience leading large-scale global security operations or cyber defense functions within complex, federated enterprises or franchise models
Proven success in building and operating global 24x7 detection and response programs, including SOC, IR, and threat intelligence functions
Strong understanding of cloud, endpoint, and network detection engineering, red-teaming, and automation frameworks
Executive presence and experience communicating with senior leadership, boards, and non-technical audiences during high-pressure situations
Demonstrated ability to deliver managed security services or shared security functions across diverse global markets or affiliates
Excellent collaboration, communication, and stakeholder management skills across technical and business domains
Preferred
15+ years of experience in cybersecurity operations or equivalent domains
Advanced degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, or related technical discipline
Certifications such as CISSP, GIAC (GCIH, GRID, GCFA), or CISM
Experience leading global incident response for large-scale enterprises or critical infrastructure organizations
Familiarity with regulatory and compliance frameworks including SOX, PCI, GDPR, and NIST
Benefits
Bonus Eligible: Yes
Long - Term Incentive: Yes
Benefits Eligible: Yes
Company
McDonald's
McDonald’s is the world’s leading global foodservice retailer with over 37,000 locations in over 100 countries.
10001+ employees
H1B Sponsorship
McDonald's has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (61)
2024 (77)
2023 (37)
2022 (31)
2021 (60)
2020 (12)
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageLeadership Team
Darryl Webb
Multi Unit Franchise Owner - President / CEO
Douglas Gehrig
CEO
Recent News
2025-10-07
The Motley Fool
2025-10-07
Company data provided by crunchbase