Senior Manager Catering Futures

British Airways; Longford; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

British Airways is seeking a Senior Manager, Catering Futures to define the future inflight catering strategy and operating model. You will own the long-term plan and work with senior leaders across BA and IAG to shape the next generation of onboard meals.

This role blends strategic thinking with delivery, requiring commercial acumen, stakeholder management and strong presentation skills. It offers opportunities to transform operations in a global airline and influence budgeting and investments.

Qualifications

• Experience leading large, complex supply chains with KPI-driven results.
• Strong commercial/financial leadership with senior stakeholders.
• Adaptive communicator who distills information effectively.
• Proven track record setting strategic direction and solving cross-functional issues.
• Supplier, procurement and contract-management expertise.
• Experience managing third‑party contracts and SLAs.
• Advanced project and change-management capability.
• Ability to build relationships across product, operations and finance.
• PowerPoint expert for structured presentations.
• Understanding of airline services or hospitality and regulatory landscape.

Responsibilities

• Combine strategy with commercial judgement to deliver.
• Assess global catering trends with senior leaders across BA and IAG and shape future direction.
• Develop the investment case for catering provision.
• Collaborate with IAG Procurement to evaluate proposals and terms.
• Shape long-term catering budgets and required investments.
• Build relationships with global partners across catering and inventory.

Skills

Large supply chains

Commercial leadership

Stakeholder management

PowerPoint expert

Contract management

Supplier management

Change management

Presentation skills

Hospitality/airline domain

Job description

A career without limits

As the nation’s flag carrier, we take great pride in connecting Britain with the world and the world with Britain.

It’s something we’ve been doing for over 100 years, ever since we launched the world’s first international scheduled air service between London and Paris.

This originality has been in our blood since day one. It’s the spirit we share with the people that fly with us, our partners, and our colleagues.

So, whether you are a reassuring voice on the end of a phone, a smile at the door, under a wing keeping the turbines spinning or landing us gently in far-flung places, a job at British Airways is yours to make.

We know great things can happen when you’re inspired to think big and bring your ambition to work every day, which is why, at British Airways the sky is never the limit.

The role: Senior Manager, Catering Futures

Band 2 | Customer Direcotrate

At British Airways, food and drink are much more than an onboard service. They’re part of how our customers experience our brand, and behind every meal is a complex global operation bringing together suppliers, investment, technology, logistics and thousands of operational decisions.

We’re looking for a Senior Manager, Catering Futures to help define what the future of inflight catering looks like at British Airways.

This is a role with real scale and ambition. You’ll own and evolve our long-term inflight catering strategy and operating model, looking beyond how things work today to identify how we can transform our approach for the future.

What you’ll do:

• Combine strategic thinking with commercial judgement and operational understanding to turn a bold vision into something deliverable.
• Work with senior leaders across British Airways and IAG, assessing global catering and mass food-production trends, understand the operational dependencies behind them and help determine the future direction of our inflight catering proposition.
• Play a leading role in shaping the commercial model behind that future, including developing the investment case for our catering provision
• Partner with IAG Procurement to shape the approach to market, evaluate proposals, negotiate commercial terms and establish the measures that will define success.
• Help shape long-term catering budgets and identifying the operational and capital investment required.
• Build productive relationships with global partners spanning airline catering, food and beverage manufacturing and inventory management, while influencing stakeholders.

About you:

You’ll be someone who is comfortable moving between strategy and delivery. You can see the big picture, but you understand that exceptional customer experiences depend on getting the operational and commercial detail right.

You’ll be analytical, commercially astute and an accomplished communicator. Just as importantly, you’ll challenge established thinking, bring new ideas to complex problems and create momentum across a broad network of stakeholders.

This isn’t simply about managing today’s catering operation. It’s an opportunity to help reimagine the model behind it.

What you’ll bring:

• Experience managing large, complex supply chains, including performance management and KPIs.
• Strong commercial and financial leadership experience, with the confidence to operate with our most senior stakeholders at BA and IAG.
• An adaptive communicator, understanding when to distil information versus further detail required.
• A track record of setting strategic direction and finding commercial solutions to complex, cross-functional challenges.
• Significant supplier, procurement and contract-management expertise, including leading commercial negotiations.
• Experience managing third‑party contracts and service‑level agreements.
• Advanced project and change‑management capability, ideally gained through significant transformation in an operational environment.
• The ability to build strong relationships across product, operational, financial and specialist teams.
• PowerPointexpert in the creation and structure of presentations.
• An understanding of airline services or hospitality environments, together with an appreciation of the airline regulatory landscape.

Inclusion & Diversity

At British Airways we all have a part to play in creating an inclusive place to work. Diverse representation among our people is really important to us and we recognise that all our colleagues are uniquely different and bring their own originality, creativity and identity to work.

Inclusion and diversity is a key driver of innovation and we’re committed to creating a culture where everyone feels that they can be themselves. We’re looking for people from all backgrounds and cultures to join us and be a part of our journey to become a Better BA as we continue to connect Britain with the world and the world with Britain.