McDonald’s is the largest restaurant chain in the Nordics and the market leader in both sales and market share, serving iconic products such as the Big Mac and world-famous fries to over 600,000 guests every day.

This position is based in Stockholm and is part of Food Folk’s Senior Leadership Team (SLT), reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer Food Folk-McDonald’s Nordic. Food Folk is the Nordic organization behind McDonald’s – one of the world’s most iconic brands. With 70 franchisee groups and over 20,000 employees across Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, we’re on a mission to build a purpose-driven, high-performing culture that reflects our values and inspires our people. As we scale, we’re creating a new C-suite role to lead this transformation: Chief Culture Officer.

The Role
This is a strategic and hands-on role, requiring presence in all four Nordic countries and deep engagement with our people. As Chief Culture Officer you’ll work closely with Franchisees, Managing Directors, and senior leadership to embed McDonald’s values across all levels of the organization, ensuring that every individual takes ownership and plays an active role in driving the culture agenda.

This newly created SLT position will partner closely with Franchisees to champion and embed the company’s cultural standards and objectives. The Chief Culture Officer will advance this agenda through strategic guidance, hands-on operational support, and leading-edge insights. Acting as a trusted advisor, the role will help Franchisees strengthen and sustain a high-performing, customer-centric culture as the business continues to scale. Working collaboratively with the wider SLT, the Chief Culture Officer will ensure that cultural excellence drives engagement, performance, and customer experience.

Your Profile
You are a strategic thinker with a proven ability to execute plans effectively. You excel at communicating and building relationships, inspiring those around you. Analytical and organized, you make data-driven decisions and are adept at handling ambiguity, setting clear priorities when faced with complexity. Driven by strong values, you are dedicated to fostering inclusion and committed to ongoing improvement.

The ideal candidate brings extensive experience working in international, multinational organizations across multiple countries and is adept at management teamwork within a matrix environment. Strong stakeholder management and strategic business development capabilities are essential, supported by a minimum of ten years in a senior HR, Learning & Development or Culture position. Additional advantages include a background in the Food & Beverage or Hospitality sectors and leadership experience within the Nordic region, an MBA or postgraduate qualification and fluency in Swedish, Danish, Finnish or Norwegian.

Key responsibilities include

• Build a high-performing, purpose-driven culture where people feel respected, valued, and motivated, in partnership with ~70 Franchisee groups and 20,000 employees
  
• Drive accountability for McDonald’s culture, values, and behaviours across all levels
  
• Coach and enable Franchisees on best practices in engagement, development, retention, and performance
  
• Collaborate with Franchisees to assess cultural effectiveness, enhance reputation and trust, and strengthen hiring and retention strategies
  
• Build capability to embed culture through behaviour change, structures, and processes
  
• Partner with the Impact Team to track and advance social initiatives, including DE&I and Human Rights
  
• Embed McDonald’s values and behaviours through targeted training, coaching, and leadership development
  
• Coach Managing Directors to ensure cultural objectives are achieved across markets
  
• Work with the COO to align operational training with culture and performance goals
  

• Lead Franchisee training and development, implementing all McDonald’s-mandated programs and identifying new initiatives that drive growth and excellence
  

• Leverage engagement data (e.g., Peakon) to monitor, measure, and improve culture and performance
  
  
• Support the integration of Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) into the broader culture by promoting safety as a shared value and leadership priority. Collaborate with operational and safety teams to help embed a proactive safety mindset and strengthen reporting and communication practices across restaurants.

Apply
To apply for this opportunity, please submit your application in English through recruitment firm, LYL People. Selection and interviews will be conducted on an ongoing basis, so we encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible. If you have any questions or concerns, you are warmly welcome to contact Ylva Ottosson at ylva.ottosson@lylpeople.se or +46 733914108 or Louise Junghahn at louise.junghahn@lylpeople.se or +46703272702.

More about McDonald´s & Food Folk
In 2021, McDonald’s became the leading Quick Service Restaurant in each of the Nordic countries for the first time. System-wide sales exceed €1.5 billion, with more than 136 million customers served annually. Food Folk is the largest youth employer in the region, with around 20,000 restaurant employees and approximately 70 franchisees operating across four countries. There are ambitious plans to grow to 600 restaurants by 2030.

We believe in using our scale and reach responsibly, engaging customers, employees, franchisees, suppliers, and partners to make a positive impact in the communities we serve. We are proud of the progress made and remain committed to driving meaningful change across our markets.

Food Folk is an independent company holding a 20-year McDonald’s International Development Licence (“IDL”) to operate McDonald’s restaurants in the Nordics. Owned by the Hands Family since 2017, Food Folk oversees both restaurant operations and the associated real estate portfolio. The corporate organisation comprises around 250 colleagues, with offices in Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo, and Stockholm.