Government Relations Consultant

McDonald’s has run its business in the UK since 1974 and celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The business currently operates over 1,500 restaurants across the UK and Ireland, serving almost four million customers each day. McDonald’s is one of the UK’s largest private sector employers, employing over 170,000 people.

McDonald’s UK & Ireland has a proven track record of investing in the development of its employees and offering flexibility as part of its dedication to being a modern and progressive company. Every year, it invests over £40 million in developing people, giving every one of its employees the opportunity to take part in structured training.

McDonald’s buys ingredients from over 23,000 British and Irish farmers and spends over £1.1billion annually on its food and packaging requirements. McDonald’s is committed to supporting British and Irish farmers to ensure it can continue to source many of its ingredients from the UK and Ireland.

McDonald’s is a market leader in its field, striving for the highest standard of quality, speed and restaurant experience. Re-generation of our restaurant infrastructure, covering digital ordering, re-imaging and dual-point service make working at McDonald’s more exciting than ever!

We are dedicated to using our scale for good: good for people, our industry and the planet. From bold recycling initiatives and sustainable sourcing efforts to our partnership with Ronald McDonald House Charities, we see every day as a chance to have a genuine impact on our customers, our people and our partners.

We're a people business just as much as we are a restaurant business. We strive to be the most inclusive brand in the world by building diverse teams who create delicious, feel-good moments that are easy for everyone to enjoy. Joining McDonald's means thinking big every day and preparing for a career that can have impact around the world.

Company Vision and Culture…

Our Global vision is to build a better McDonald’s and, in the UK, and Ireland we are working hard to be the UK & Irelands best-loved restaurant company.

McDonald’s is defined by its culture. Our culture shapes and informs everything we think and everything we do. Our culture influences the way we interact with each other, and how we interact with customers, franchisees and suppliers. Our culture motivates and inspires us to attract and retain great talent, creating positive, energising, exceptional working environment for us all.

Our values drive our culture and shape our beliefs, our priorities and our actions. They influence the decisions we make, how we treat one another and how we show up as a brand to the world.

Serve: We put our customers and our people first

Inclusion: We open our doors to everyone

Integrity: We do the right thing

Community: We are good neighbours

Family: We get better together

Hybrid Working

This role is based in our East Finchley office working 3 days in the office and 2 days remotely

Job Description

The Opportunity

With over 1,500 restaurants across the UK & Ireland how we engage with our stakeholders (locally and nationally) is a priority – both in supporting our franchisees and restaurants to do so, as well as at a McDonald’s Restaurants Limited level.

This role is designed to engage with a broad range of political stakeholders to build and protect the reputation of the organisation – including protecting our licence to operate, helping to shape policy and gain positive endorsement, all aligning to our overall business priorities.

This role will particularly focus on the evolving employment agenda (given the Employment Rights Bill), public health (given the evolving landscape) and on the company’s growth ambition so will be working closely with our Property & Acquisitions team. The work will support the overall objectives of the wider Public Affairs / Government Relations strategy.

You will be passionate about politics and have the ambition to tell a top-down and bottom-up story about McDonald’s with national regional stakeholders. You will act as a representative of the business with political stakeholders and our trade membership bodies, as well as guiding other spokespeople on how to engage.

What will my accountabilities be?

• Proactive and reactive first point of contact for day-to-day local stakeholder engagement with a particular focus on: Planning & Development, the People/ Employment agenda and Public Health.
• Play a key role in working with our agency partners and departments across the business including our property and acquisitions team regarding planning applications & new store openings to support from a communications perspective, people team on employment issues and supply chain on key issues such as public health
• Responsibility for tracking and staying close to devolved policies and working with Head of Public Affairs to engage with Holyrood and Welsh government to protect our business and support our strategy and licence to operate
• Supporting the national public affairs and stakeholder plan with regional engagement – both directly as a representative of the business and supporting franchisees with engagement as spokespeople
• Engage on local issues to ensure we are front footed in our approach in engaging key local stakeholders – including local community groups, MPs, councillors, with a particular focus on Labour and the Employment Rights Bill
• Out of hours Press Office support

What Team will I be a part?

This role is part of the Impact (Corporate Affairs) team.

Who are my customers?

• The wider department: reporting into the Head of Government Relations, working alongside another Government Relations Consultant and Government Relations Officer, and the wider Communications & Impact team
• Internal audiences: working with a range of departments across the business as well as franchisees and restaurant teams
• External audiences: politicians, industry trade bodies and campaign groups

Qualifications

What background do I need to have?

• Must have a background in government relations
• Strong understanding of the UK political landscape (constituency and council level) including nuances in devolved nations – with strong relationships, or the ability to build them Strong communication skills, both written and verbal
• Confident in delivering presentations
• The ability to synthesize information quickly
• Adapt quickly and easily to new or changing conditions
• Demonstrate a genuine desire and capacity to understand and relate to others
• A desire to learn

Additional Information

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.”