Director, Controllership; SOX & ESG

Position: Director, Controllership (SOX & ESG)
Job Description:

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

The Director - Controllership (SOX & ESG) is responsible for leading and advancing McDonald's global internal control environment, ensuring a robust, scalable, and compliant SOX framework. This role serves as a strategic advisor and thought partner across Finance, Technology, Global Business Services, Global Internal Audit, Transformation teams, and Markets to strengthen governance, mitigate risk, and support enterprise-wide change initiatives.

The position plays a key leadership role in driving SOX strategy, controls modernization, governance, risk management, and continuous improvement across the organization. This includes supporting large-scale transformation programs, enhancing control design and monitoring capabilities, promoting consistency across markets, and enabling a sustainable, efficient control operating model.

In addition, the role provides controllership oversight for ESG reporting readiness, focusing on governance, controls, and regulatory compliance for emerging sustainability reporting requirements.

Duties

+ Lead the global SOX and controls program, supporting management's assessment of internal control over financial reporting and compliance with SEC requirements.

+ Serve as a trusted advisor to senior finance leadership on control, governance, compliance, and financial reporting risk matters.

+ Partner with Markets, Global Business Services, Technology, Internal Audit, External Audit, and Transformation teams to establish and maintain an effective and efficient control environment.

+ Evaluate the control implications of major business, technology, and operating model changes, ensuring risks are identified and addressed through sound control design.

+ Drive consistency and standardization of controls across markets, processes, and functions while balancing risk management with operational efficiency.

+ Provide recommendations and thought leadership to improve the effectiveness, sustainability, and scalability of the control environment.

+ Lead the SOX self-assessment and quality assurance program, providing independent review and challenge of control design and execution to identify improvement opportunities, promote consistency, and enhance the effectiveness of the global control environment.

+ Controls Transformation & Continuous Improvement. Lead initiatives to modernize and simplify the SOX operating model through standardization, automation, analytics, and continuous monitoring capabilities.

+ Audit & Remediation Oversight. Partner with Internal Audit and External Audit to coordinate controls testing, walkthroughs, audits, and deficiency evaluations.

+ Capability Building & Stakeholder Engagement. Act as a global controls subject matter expert, providing training, coaching, and guidance to finance teams, control owners, and project teams.

+ ESG Controllership & Reporting Readiness. Support governance, controls, and reporting readiness activities related to ESG and sustainability disclosures.

+ Lead, develop, and coach an established team. Establish clear goals, priorities, and development plans while fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

+ Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field

+ CPA or equivalent professional accounting certification preferred

+ 10+ years of progressive experience in accounting, audit, controllership, financial reporting, or internal controls.

+ Big 4 public accounting experience required.

+ Deep knowledge of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, internal controls, governance frameworks, and financial reporting processes.

+ Demonstrated experience leading enterprise-wide control, compliance, audit, or transformation initiatives.

+ Experience partnering with senior leadership and influencing decision-making across complex organizations.

+ Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and organizational change leadership…