Jo Sempels

As President of IDL Markets, Jo is responsible for the more than 80 markets in which McDonald’s has licensed its franchising rights to strategic partners. His team works hand in hand with these 48 developmental licensees (DL) whose collective footprint includes 11,265 restaurants around the world.

Jo has been part of the McDonald's System for almost 30 years, resulting in a deep knowledge of the McDonald's business and a true passion for understanding customers' needs. He is a strong advocate of the power of the McDonald’s ‘three-legged stool’ and what can be achieved through collaboration between DL partners, suppliers, and corporate teams.

Before stepping into his current role, Jo led the IDL European Business Unit from 2015 until 2018. While overseeing these 29 European markets and their more than 1,750 restaurants, Jo established a new structure and team for the European organization, resulting in consistently strong sales results. During his tenure, he was instrumental in converting the four Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden) and Hungary into developmental licensee organizations.

Jo started his McDonald's career as an intern in finance in Belgium in 1992. From here, he moved to roles of increasing scope and responsibility, before assuming the role of Managing Director for the Belgium market in 2001, and Managing Director for the Netherlands in 2005. Throughout his McDonald’s career, he has achieved exceptional results by resetting the fundamentals of the business, focusing on operational excellence and ensuring strong collaboration and engagement with franchisees and DL partners.

Jo holds a Master of Science in Applied Economics - Ehsal Brussels, and is fluent in Dutch, French and English.