Senior Manager, Workplace Investigations

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 centred on service, integrity, inclusion, 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.

McDonald’s currently has an exciting opportunity for a talented and experienced investigator to join the growing Workplace Investigations Team. This position is responsible for working closely with the Workplace Investigations Team IOM Director to help build the Workplace Investigations Team in the UK&I, develop and manage a team of investigators, conduct high-complexity workplace conduct investigations, and help continue to progress and strengthen the investigations program. This role will be a member of the Global Labor and Employment Team, and partner closely with other Legal Teams, global and local market HR Teams, and local market Operations teams.

You will be responsible for:

• Building an Investigations Team that supports market leadership at an organizational level by driving the company’s values and behaviours.
• Leading a team of Investigators to help develop their investigations and leadership skills.
• Act as a role model and mentor within the team and department.
• Oversee all investigations conducted on your team to ensure investigations and outcomes are fair, consistent, and legally defensible.
• Lead high-complexity and sensitive investigations from start to finish, including conducting interviews, reviewing data and documents, preparing reports, consulting attorneys, and engaging with the business.
• Ensure investigations meet internal governance standards and can withstand external scrutiny, including regulatory or litigation review.
• Ensure investigations are conducted in compliance with data protection, confidentiality, and safeguarding requirements, including appropriate handling of sensitive personal data.
• Influence key stakeholders, including HR, Legal and Operations partners.
• Lead and drive work to find efficiencies within the team.
• Shape and advocate McDonald’s positions to internal and external audiences regarding a variety of business matters.
• Promote the professional growth and expertise of staff through ongoing training, coaching, and capability development.
• Support departmental management in driving strategic direction for the team.
• Analyse investigation trends and themes to identify systemic risks and inform preventative actions across the business.
• Leverage a consistent framework to recommend action outcomes.
• Promote diversity and inclusion in the department and team and encourage the sharing of diverse opinions and concerns.
• Foster a culture of trust, values, respect, and accountability within the team.

Skills and experience required: 

• Extensive workplace conduct investigations experience
• Demonstrable experience leading complex, high-risk workplace investigations end-to-end
• Good understanding of employment law, regulatory requirements, and UK whistleblowing legislation
• Strong knowledge of investigative methodologies and best practices in a multinational setting, including evidence gathering and review, interviewing and report writing.
• Experience as a people manager preferred with ability to coach and mentor junior team members
• Experience operating in environments with significant brand, reputational or regulatory risk
• Effective communication skills and the ability to influence and demonstrate empathy
• Unquestioned integrity and ethics
• Objective and creative problem solver
• Ability to influence key partners at the same or higher levels
• Proven ability to be a partner and trusted advisor to key stakeholders
• Excellent interpersonal skills

• BA/BS, LLB, or MBA in applicable field – such as Human Resources, Law, Compliance

At McDonald’s we are People from all Walks of Life... 

People are at the heart of everything we do, and they make the McDonald’s experience. We embrace diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive culture that means people can be their best authentic self in our restaurants and offices, which helps us to better serve our customers. We have a strong heritage of diversity and representation within our communities, which we are proud of. The diversity of our people, customers, Franchisees and suppliers gives us strength.

We do not tolerate inequality, injustice or discrimination of any kind.  These are hugely important issues and a brand with our reach and relevance means we have a very meaningful role to play.

We also recognise our responsibility as a large employer to continue being active in our communities, helping to develop skills and drive aspirations that will help people to be more aware of the world of work and more successful within it, whether with McDonald’s or elsewhere.”