Manager, Social Media

Date: Apr 30, 2026

Location: Chicago, IL, US, 60607

Company: McDonald's Corporation

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 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

US MARKETING — BRAND, CONTENT & CULTURE TEAM

Why Social Media at McDonald’s?

This isn't just a social media job. This is a seat at the table of one of the most culturally powerful brands in the world.

If you've studied how McDonald’s turned Grimace into a full-blown cultural phenomenon, sparked an Internet frenzy with McNugget Caviar, and engineered the most anticipated snack wrap comeback in QSR history, and thought, I want to be the one building that, then this is the job for you.

This role sits at the intersection of social strategy, cultural intelligence, and brand storytelling, and it demands someone who sees social not just as a channel, but as the future of marketing itself. You won’t just manage a feed. You’ll be the architect of ideas that ignite social conversation and insert McDonald’s directly in the center of culture, not adjacent to it. 

Duties

What You’ll Own:

• Lead social strategy for McDonald's highest-priority campaigns by setting the vision for how we show up across every platform.
• Serve as the social authority within our integrated team, ensuring social is the engine driving campaign thinking from day one.
• Lead creator-driven marketing campaigns end-to-end — from identifying and vetting talent for brand alignment to building campaigns that turn the right voices into genuine McDonald's advocates.
• Drive the creative vision for paid media tactics and branded content across social platforms.
• Champion creative excellence by pushing agencies, cross-functional partners, and your own instincts to move beyond the expected and toward the never-been-done-before.
• Build fan-fueled creative platforms and content adaptations for multicultural GenZ audiences with authentic, resonant storytelling.
• Partner cross-functionally with marketing strategy to ensure social strategy is tightly aligned to business goals.
• Own the measurement of social's business impact by translating data, engagement signals, and trend analysis into strategic intelligence that sharpens future work.
• Monitor, analyze, and act on social listening insights to keep McDonald's a step ahead of culture, not chasing it.

Qualifications

Who You Are:

You are a social media expert who not only uses social but thinks in social. You believe that the best marketing in the world is being built natively in feeds, stories, and comment sections and that the most meaningful KPI is people sharing your work in DMs and group chats. To succeed in this role, this is what’s expected of you:

• Deep, demonstrated social media expertise across platforms. You know not just what works, but why it works, and what will work next.
• Fluency in multicultural marketing with the ability to build strategies that authentically connect with GenZ and diverse audience segments
• A refined instinct for what's share-worthy. You can identify a cultural moment, assess brand fit, and move fast without sacrificing strategy.
• The analytical rigor to translate data and social insights into clear, actionable strategy recommendations
• The agility to operate at the speed of social while being adaptive, decisive, and calm under the pressure of a trending moment
• You’re a self-starter who thrives in a fast-paced environment, manages multiple priorities simultaneously without losing momentum, and holds yourself accountable to results.
• You empower teams with a challenger mindset. You don't protect old thinking; you push past it to advocate for innovation and smart creative risks.
• You have a genuine obsession with your audience. You listen to fan conversations deeply, and you let that intelligence shape your work.
• The judgment to know the difference between trend-jacking for attention and showing up meaningfully in culture
• A belief in community-first thinking. You build for the long game, not the quick viral spike.
• A conviction that having something to say matters more than having to say something

Bonus Points For:

• Social listening expertise and platform analytics tools
• Paid and earned media experience
• Brand-side or agency experience working on scaled national campaigns
• Experience collaborating with and directing creative agencies
• People management and mentorship
• On-set production experience

Compensation

Bonus Eligible: Yes

Long - Term Incentive: Yes

Benefits Eligible: Yes

Salary Range

The expected salary range for this role is $101,437.00 - $126,797.00 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.

Additional Information: 

Nearest Major Market: Chicago