Head of Service Delivery

Etihad Airways; Abu Dhabi; On-site; AED 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Etihad Airways is searching for a visionary Head of Service Delivery to enhance guest experiences across all touchpoints. In this critical role, you will lead service design initiatives, ensuring operational excellence and a seamless journey for guests, alongside cross-functional teams to elevate standards across the board. The ideal candidate will have extensive leadership experience in hospitality or airline service delivery, with a proven ability to improve guest satisfaction and innovate service strategies.

Qualifications

• Minimum 10 years of experience in service delivery within hospitality or airlines.
• 5+ years in a senior leadership role managing service teams.
• Strong understanding of quality frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Define and govern global service standards aligned with brand promise.
• Lead strategic partnerships to enhance operational feasibility in service innovations.
• Implement KPIs and service performance dashboards.

Skills

Service Design Principles

Operational Excellence

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Customer Experience Strategy

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Hospitality, Business, or Aviation

Master's degree

Job description

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At Etihad, we’re transforming the way the world experiences travel. Through creativity, innovation, and a relentless commitment to excellence, we aim to deliver thoughtful, world-class experiences at every step of the journey.

Join us in shaping the future of aviation.

We’re looking for an experienced and visionary Head of Service Delivery to elevate our guest experience across all touchpoints—from Cabin Crew and Airport Services to Lounges, Contact Centres, and Guest Relations.

In this pivotal role, you’ll bring service design to life by partnering with cross-functional teams and translating innovation into real-world, scalable, and consistent service delivery. You’ll champion operational excellence and ensure our brand promise is felt by every guest, every time.

Accountabilities

As Head of Service Delivery, you will :

• Define and govern global service standards, ensuring alignment with Etihad’s brand promise, commercial objectives, and regulatory requirements.
• Act as the key strategic partner to the Design team and frontline operations, ensuring operational feasibility is embedded in the early stages of service innovation.
• Build cross-functional alignment between Service Design, Operations, Commercial, and Digital to ensure service strategies are both aspirational and operationally executable.
• Lead the design and deployment of service training that embeds desired behaviors, enhances customer interaction, and supports leadership capabilities.
• Lead and coordinate service delivery through Cabin Crew, Airports, Lounges, Contact Centres, and Guest Relations teams.
• Provide operational insights during the service design process to ensure practical feasibility and smooth deployment.
• Implement KPIs and service performance dashboards to monitor delivery effectiveness across all channels.
• Conduct regular audits, mystery shopping, and feedback analysis to identify gaps and areas for improvement.

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in hospitality, Business, or Aviation (Master’s preferred).
• Minimum 10 years of experience in hospitality or airline service delivery, with 5+ years in a senior leadership role.
• Proven track record of leading global service teams and improving guest satisfaction scores.
• Strong understanding of service design principles, quality frameworks, and cabin crew engagement strategies.
• Experience working in complex, multicultural operational environments.

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, was formed in 2003 and quickly became one of the world’s leading airlines. From its home in Abu Dhabi, Etihad flies to passenger and cargo destinations across the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America. Along with Etihad’s codeshare partners, Etihad’s network offers access to hundreds of international destinations. In recent years, Etihad has received numerous awards for its superior service, products, cargo offering, and loyalty program. All this ties into Etihad’s ambitious Journey 2030 strategy. The airline plans to double its fleet size and triple its customer base over the next six years, aiming to be the airline everyone wants to fly!

Beware of fraudulent job offers from individuals or organizations claiming to represent the Etihad group. We will never ask for personal information, bank details, or payment during the recruitment process. Interviews are conducted face-to-face or via video / telephone before any formal offer. If you are asked for money, please treat it as fraudulent.

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