Danielle Harris appointed Chief People Officer of McDonald’s UK & Ireland

A McDonald’s insider of more than 12 years, Harris succeeds James Thorne, who moves to the United States to lead the people pillar of the company’s global strategy.

McDonald’s UK & Ireland has appointed Danielle Harris as Chief People Officer, with responsibility for the people agenda across a business of more than 1,560 restaurants and over 159,000 employees. The appointment took effect on 1 October 2026.

Harris joins the UK and Ireland market from McDonald’s global organisation, where she most recently served as Vice President, Global People Partner for Corporate Functions. In that role she helped guide major business transformation initiatives across the company’s corporate functions.

Scope of the role

As Chief People Officer, Harris will lead the people agenda across the UK and Ireland business. It is a workforce with a young profile: more than 100,000 of its employees are under the age of 25, according to the company.

She takes over a function that has recently been central to McDonald’s UK & Ireland’s public positioning on youth employment. In April 2026 the business launched what it described as the nation’s largest in-person work experience programme, offering 2,500 paid five-day placements in its first year, with a quarter reserved for young people who are not in education, employment or training, or at risk of becoming so.

Harris pointed to that programme in her first comments on the role, adding: “McDonald’s success is built on the incredible people who power our restaurants, offices and franchise businesses every day.”

Harris’s career background

In the field she led people strategy across more than 1,500 restaurants in the southeastern United States, working closely with franchisees and field leaders on talent, engagement and business performance.

In the field she led people strategy across more than 1,500 restaurants in the southeastern United States, working closely with franchisees and field leaders on talent, engagement and business performance. That franchise-facing experience is directly relevant in the UK and Ireland, where franchisees operate the large majority of restaurants.

Lauren Schultz, Chief Executive Officer of McDonald’s UK & Ireland, said Harris’s “strong partnership with Franchisees and broad people expertise makes her exceptionally well placed to lead our people strategy across the UK & Ireland.”

Leadership transition

Harris succeeds James Thorne, who had been Senior Vice President, Chief People Officer since October 2023 and has worked in McDonald’s people function since 2007. Thorne is taking a senior leadership role within McDonald’s Global People Team in the United States, where he will lead the People pillar of the company’s global strategy and work with operations on the experience of more than two million restaurant crew worldwide.

The appointment adds a second executive with a US field background to the market’s senior team. Schultz became chief executive in September 2025, having previously led McDonald’s Columbus Field Office, which covers around 1,200 restaurants and 180 owner/operators across seven US states.

A previous holder of the UK people brief has since moved across the sector: Jez Langhorn, formerly Senior Vice President, Chief People Officer, UK and Northern Europe at McDonald’s, was appointed Chief People Officer of Costa Coffee in July 2026.

Why the role matters

For a business of this scale, the people function carries direct operational weight. Harris takes it on while the work experience programme is in its first year and under a chief executive who took office in September 2025, placing talent, development and franchisee partnership at the centre of her immediate remit.