General Manager

DHL Group; West of England; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

34 days annual leave

8% pension employer contribution + 4%‑

GP7/24 confidential medical support

Retail and lifestyle discounts

Loans and mortgage advice

Job summary

DHL Supply Chain at Bristol Airport is seeking a General Manager to lead a high-profile aviation contract in a fast-paced environment. You will own daily operations, champion safety, performance, and customer service, and work with airport stakeholders to deliver contractual requirements.

You’ll manage a large operational team, drive continuous improvement and service delivery, and build strong relationships with the customer and authorities while supporting growth opportunities for the contract.

Qualifications

• Previous aviation experience and knowledge is essential.
• Proven track record of managing complex operational environments.
• Experience in highly secure and regulated environments.

Responsibilities

• Full accountability for daily operational performance, including safety, operational performance, OTP, KPI delivery, and customer service excellence.
• Lead and inspire a large operational team within a complex aviation environment.
• Create a high-performance culture focused on safety, compliance, accountability, and engagement.
• Drive achievement against customer standards, contractual requirements, and business objectives.
• Work closely with customers and airport authorities to ensure delivery of key metrics and SLAs.
• Identify and support growth opportunities across the contract and wider aviation operation.
• Build and maintain relationships with DHL, customer, airport authorities and partners.
• Champion continuous improvement initiatives and best practices to enhance service delivery and efficiency.
• Ensure activities comply with aviation, security, safety, and regulatory requirements.

Skills

Aviation leadership

Stakeholder management

Operational excellence

Team leadership

Job description

Contract Type: Permanent (Full-Time)
Location: Bristol Airport (BS483DY)

Ready for Take-Off?

Are you an experienced aviation leader looking to take your career to the next level? If so, this could be the opportunity you've been waiting for!

At DHL Supply Chain, we're searching for an exceptional General Manager to lead our operation at Bristol Airport, supporting one of our key aviation contracts in a fast-paced, ever-changing environment. This is a unique opportunity to take ownership of a critical airport operation where safety, operational performance, customer service, and compliance are at the heart of everything we do. You'll lead a large operational team, work closely with our customer and airport stakeholders, and play a pivotal role in driving performance, continuous improvement, innovation, and future growth opportunities. If you thrive on challenges, enjoy building strong relationships, and want to make a real impact in a dynamic aviation environment, we'd love to hear from you.

A TYPICAL DAY MAY INVOLVE

• Full accountability for daily operational performance, including Safety, Operational Performance, On-Time Performance (OTP), KPI delivery, and customer service excellence.
• Leading and inspiring a large operational team within a complex, fast-moving aviation environment.
• Creating a high-performance culture focused on safety, compliance, accountability, and engagement.
• Driving achievement against customer standards, contractual requirements, and business objectives.
• Working closely with customers and respective airport authorities to ensure the successful delivery of key operational metrics and service level agreements.
• Identifying and supporting business growth opportunities across the contract and wider aviation operation.
• Building and maintaining strong stakeholder relationships across DHL, the customer, airport authorities, and other key partners.
• Championing continuous improvement initiatives, innovation, and operational best practice to enhance service delivery and efficiency.
• Ensuring all activities are conducted in line with aviation, security, safety, and regulatory requirements.

THIS ROLE WOULD SUIT PEOPLE WHO

• Previous aviation experience and knowledge is essential.
• Proven track record of successfully managing complex operational environments.
• Experience working within highly secure and regulated environments.
• Demonstrable experience leading large operational teams.
• Strong stakeholder management and relationship-building skills.
• Experience working closely with customers and external partners to deliver operational objectives.
• Excellent communication, leadership, and decision-making skills. Security requirements: Ability to drive continuous improvement and operational innovation.
• Ability to provide a full five-year address history.
• Ability to successfully obtain and maintain a five-year criminal record check.
• Must meet all airport security clearance and vetting requirements.

WHY JOIN US?

• 34 days annual leave plus the opportunity to buy more!
• We're happy to talk about flexible working - just ask about alternative patterns at interview
• Join our generous pension scheme and benefit from an 8% employer contribution, alongside a 4% employee contribution
• Free confidential 24/7 GP consultations
• Hundreds of retail and lifestyle discounts
• Affordable loans, savings schemes and free mortgage advice
• Visit https://careers.dhl.com/global/en/working-at-dhl-supply-chain to learn more

WHO WE ARE

We're the global leaders in supply chain management with 188,000 people in over 50 countries. Our expert teams work together to deliver for our customers across a range of industries including retail, automotive, healthcare and more.

BUILDING AN INCLUSIVE WORKPLACE

At DHL, we're all about creating a workplace where everyone's skills and experiences matter, and where you can be your true self every day.

As proud supporters of the Armed Forces Covenant, we value the skills and experience of ex-service personnel and are dedicated to helping our veterans find jobs.

Please be aware that interviews are provisionally scheduled to take place during the week commencing 23rd November. Applications received after this date may not be considered but will be added to our talent pool for future opportunities, subject to your consent. Please also be aware that we review applications continuously and where we have a large number of applications the application period may close ahead of the provisional interview date. To ensure your application is considered we recommend submitting it as early as possible.