Senior Airside Manager

Edinburgh Airport; City of Edinburgh; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading UK airport is seeking a Senior Airside Manager responsible for the day-to-day management of airside operations. The successful candidate will lead teams, ensure safety compliance, and foster relationships with stakeholders. This requires a strong background in airside operations, effective communication skills, and demonstrated experience in performance management. Join us in delivering exceptional service and operational excellence at the airport.

Benefits

Pension scheme with up to 7% employer contributions

32 days holiday

Annual discretionary bonus

Private healthcare after 1-year service

Free car parking on site during holidays

Qualifications

• Managerial level experience in airside operations.
• Experience with third-party performance management.
• Understanding of regulatory environment constraints.
• Knowledge of Safety Management Systems.
• Budget management experience.
• Full DVLA drivers licence or equivalent.

Responsibilities

• Oversee airside planning and operations for performance and service.
• Collaborate with Ground Handling Agent for performance monitoring.
• Build relationships with airlines and regulatory bodies.
• Develop airside team culture focused on trust and safety.
• Implement compliance with operational policies and processes.
• Manage airfield operations within budgetary parameters.

Skills

Effective people management skills

Effective communication skills

Commercial awareness

Relationship building

Change management

Education

Safety, environmental, or airside operations qualification

Tools

IT systems and packages

Job description

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About the role

The Senior Airside Manager is accountable for the day to day running of the whole Airside Operation, including the Airside Support Unit (ASU) and will have direct reports; namely Airside Operations Duty Managers, Airside Planning & Performance Manager and the ASU Manager.

They will lead their people and their teams with respect and energy and will be responsible for maintaining a fully compliant, operational and safe airfield plus an ASU operation to similar standards, 24 hours a day 365 days a year.

They will be responsible for working closely with a variety of internal and external stakeholders, ensuring optimal performance and collaborative working across the airside environment.

You can find out more about the team here .

About the Recruitment Process

The recruitment process for this role will be comprised of two stages. The first stage interview will be a Teams interview to discuss your background and experience, and your motivation in applying for the role. If successful, you will be invited to a second stage in person interview, where you will meet with our Head of Airside Operations and Baggage, and other senior stakeholders from our Operations team. This interview will be competency based and may include a task or presentation which we will confirm on invite to interview. Please note, this may be subject to change depending on the volume of applications.

We are committed to supporting diverse ways of thinking and working, so if you require adjustments in the recruitment process, please let us know on your application. You can find out more about our interview process here .

What you'll be doing

• Responsible for working collaboratively with the Ground Handling Agent (GHA) Contract Manager and Planning and Performance Manager to ensure Airline & GHA performance across the end-to-end airside passenger journey with a particular focus on achieving all SLAs
• Oversight of Airside planning and operational execution to ensure that performance, productivity and excellent customer service is forefront
• Monitoring and reporting on the standards described in the Ground Handling License. Early identification of issues and delivery of sustained solutions working with partners and GHA Contract Manager
• Building long term strategic relationships with airlines, GHAs, regulatory bodies (including the CAA), ATC and other airside stakeholders to ensure a safe, compliant, and efficient operation.
• Co‑ordination and support to Head of Airside in developing the cultural, structural and organisational development of the Airside team, providing leadership and guidance to deliver agreed objectives. Training, wellbeing and succession planning are key deliverables.
• Develop and sustain an excellent culture based on trust, transparency and engagement with the ability to deliver change in a positive and collaborative way
• Ensure that safety is given the highest priority at all times in planning, execution and in the day to day delivery of the Airfield operation
• Maintain effective and professional daily communications within the teams, with joined up thinking to provide a coherent, reliable and consistent message
• Responsible for the effective implementation, continuing application and continuous review of all airside activities to comply with regulatory, statutory and other airport operational policies, processes, documents and notices
• Drive airfield and ATC performance and asset utilisation to improve productivity (e.g. peak hour movements, operating cost per movement)
• Delivery of the airfield operation within the agreed budgetary parameters. Identify initiatives which deliver efficiencies whilst enhancing standards of safety and service
• To provide input, where appropriate, to ensure that all capital and revenue projects are aligned to the airfield operational needs. To assist with the delivery of airside capital and revenue projects, which will allow improvements in; safety, environmental, operational and service standards
• To ensure performance standards are maintained during periods of operational disruption, actively participate and contribute to contingency planning and programmes as per Edinburgh Airport policies

What we’re looking for

To apply for this role, you'll need

• A specific safety, environmental or airside operations qualification is essential or substituted with demonstrable knowledge and experience at managerial level
• Experience and performance management of third parties
• Operational knowledge of the boundaries and constraints involved in a regulatory environment
• Experience of Safety Management Systems, Risk Assessments and Business Continuity Plans
• Demonstrable knowledge and experience of managing department budgets
• High level of competence with IT systems and packages
• Valid, full DVLA drivers licence (or equivalent)

Key strengths

• Effective people management skills in a high pressure environment
• Effective communication skills, both written and verbal, at all levels of the organisation and with external organisations
• Commercial awareness; evidence of delivering goals or strategy to achieve organisational objectives
• Able to evidence relationship building with mixed business partners (both internal and external)
• Proven record of how to manage change within an operational team

If your experience looks slightly different to what we've listed here, we encourage you to still apply. You could add something we didn't know we needed.

What we’ll offer you

• Pension scheme- employer contributions can be up to 7%
• 32 days holiday, based on full time roles, increasing with service
• Annual discretionary bonus
• Supporting your health and wellbeing- private healthcare after 1 years' service, access to our Employee Assistance Programme and occupational health services
• Free car parking on site and when you go on holiday
• We offer a range of other benefits, find out more here

Why EDI?

We are Edinburgh Airport, where Scotland meets the world. The success of the airport comes down to our people, and you can help us deliver even more big days for our passengers and colleagues. The development of your career is important to us, and we'll support and encourage this every step of the way. We offer in-house and external training, both role specific and based on your objectives.

As a business we're driven by our values - they're at the core of our culture and everything we do. We will ask questions based on our values during your interview, as we're looking for people who will demonstrate these values day-in, day-out. So if this sounds like you, apply now and get ready for your career to take off.

As a Disability Confident Leader, we are committed to ensuring applicants with a disability can participate fully in our recruitment process. Please let us know in your application form if you require any adjustments, such as parking arrangements or alternative methods of communication .

We work with Inclusive Employers, who are a leading organisation for employers committed to prioritising inclusion. We are supported by them through leadership workshops, a variety of resources and webinars, demonstrating our commitment to an inclusive workplace and ensuring all our employees feel valued. This partnership is part of our wider Diversity and Inclusion strategy, and you can find out more here .

We give colleagues the opportunity to engage with different people and projects, within our business and beyond. You can get involved in a variety of different employee groups , including Diversity, STEM, Wellbeing, or create your own community - it's important to us that you can share your interests and be yourself at work.