Senior Operational Readiness and Change Manager

Edinburgh Airport; Easter Howgate; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Edinburgh Airport is seeking a Senior ORAT Lead to own and drive operational readiness, governance and change across major capital projects and business transformations. You will set the ORAT strategy, lead cross-functional readiness activity and provide assurance to executive governance forums, ensuring regulatory compliance and operational resilience.

You will influence project sponsors, delivery teams and regulators, building capability and embedding readiness before go-live, while protecting

Qualifications

• Significant experience leading operational readiness and change in live, safety-critical environments.
• Proven ability to influence executive decision-making and manage complex stakeholder groups.

Responsibilities

• Own and continuously improve the ORAT framework, governance and readiness assurance for major projects and changes.
• Provide senior operational assurance from concept through delivery, activation and post-implementation review.
• Lead planning for complex, high-impact projects with readiness strategies and transition plans.
• Chair or lead senior working groups, ensuring actions, risks and milestones are managed.
• Provide executive reporting on readiness, risks, dependencies and go/no-go decisions.
• Ensure handover of assets, training evidence and lessons learned into business-as-usual.
• Build relationships with airlines, handlers, regulators, partners and wider airport community.
• Develop operating plans and scorecards for readiness and stakeholder transition planning.
• Represent Airport Operations in governance, challenging design and scope when needed.

Skills

Senior leadership

Operational judgement

Governance & assurance

Stakeholder engagement

Problem solving

Job description

About the role

Our overall mission is simple: to ensurehappy passengers travel safely and on time. As Senior Operational Readiness, and Change Manager, you will hold senior accountability forensuring major capital projects, operational changes and businesstransformation activity are safely, effectively and sustainably integrated intothe live airport operation.

Joining our AirportOperations leadership team, you will act as the senior operational gateway forchange, setting the ORAT strategy, governance and assurance approach forprojects across the airport. You will influence project sponsors, deliveryteams, airlines, ground handlers, regulators, suppliers and internal functionsto ensure operational requirements are embedded from concept design through toactivation, handover and benefits realisation.

This is a senior,airport-wide role with responsibility for building ORAT capability, leadingcross-functional readiness activity and providing clear assurance to executiveand capital governance forums. You will ensure that people, process, systems,assets, training, trials, contingency arrangements and stakeholder engagementare fully aligned before operational go-live, while protecting customerexperience, colleague safety, regulatory compliance and operational resilience.

About the recruitment process

The recruitment process for this role will be comprised of 2 stages. The first stage will be a Teams call with our Head of Terminal Operations and a member of our operational team, to discuss your background, experience and interest in the role. For successful candidates, the second stage interview will be in person, with a task or presentation to be confirmed upon invite to interview, followed with some values and competency based questions.

Please note, depending on the volume of applications, the recruitment process for this role may change. 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

Senior ORAT leadership, governance and assurance

• Own and continuously improve the airport’s ORAT framework, standards, governance model and readiness assurance approach for major projects and operational change.
• Provide senior operational assurance from concept design through delivery, commissioning, trials, activation, transition, handover and post-implementation review.
• Act as the senior operational gateway for change, ensuring projects demonstrate readiness across people, process, technology, assets, training, procedures, safety, resilience and stakeholder acceptance before go-live.
• Lead ORAT planning for complex, high-impact projects, including readiness strategies, integrated trials plans, mobilisation plans, transition plans, cutover arrangements and operational handover criteria.
• Chair or lead senior working groups and readiness forums, holding delivery teams and operational workstreams to account for agreed actions, risks, decisions and milestones.
• Provide executive-level reporting, recommendations and escalation on operational readiness, key risks, dependencies, mitigations and go/no-go decisions.
• Ensure systems completion, testing, asset handover, training evidence, operational documentation and lessons learned are captured consistently and transitioned effectively into business-as-usual ownership.

Strategic stakeholder management and operational integration

• Build and maintain senior relationships with airlines, handlers, commercial partners, regulators, construction and technical teams, suppliers, support functions and the wider airport community.
• Set the stakeholder engagement approach for ORAT activity, ensuring impacted teams are consulted, informed, trained and ready to operate new facilities, systems, processes or ways of working.
• Lead the development of interim and final operating plans, stakeholder transition plans, communications plans, logistics arrangements and operational readiness scorecards.
• Represent Airport Operations in senior project governance, challenging design, scope, schedule, risk and implementation decisions where operational outcomes may be compromised.

Airport operations management

• Develop and lead a senior ORAT function within Airport Operations, setting clear standards, role expectations, governance routines and performance measures.
• Lead business change initiatives on behalf of operations where the operational impact, stakeholder complexity or reputational risk requires senior oversight.
• Take a key role in the airport’s incident management and operational recovery structure during periods of disruption, ensuring change activity supports safe and resilient operations.
• Drive continuous improvement across operational readiness, embedding lessons learned, readiness metrics and standardised tools across the capital and business change portfolio.
• Work with legal, compliance, safety, security and operational teams to ensure legislative, regulatory and procedural changes are translated into practical operational actions.

What we’re looking for

To apply for this role, you'll need significant experience leading operational readiness, activation and transition activity for major capital programmes or complex business change in a live, safety-critical operational environment. You will bring proven senior stakeholder management experience, strong governance discipline and the confidence to influence executive decision-making, challenge delivery risk and protect operational outcomes. This role requires the successful candidate to obtain a Counter Terrorist Check, so you must have been living in the UK for the last 3 consecutive yearsKey strengths:Senior leadership and influence – you can set direction, create structure, lead cross-functional teams and influence senior stakeholders in complex, ambiguous and high-pressure environments.Operational judgement – you understand live airport operations and can assess how design, construction, systems, process or people changes may affect safety, compliance, resilience, customer experience and operational performance.Governance and assurance – you are confident developing readiness frameworks, managing risks and dependencies, preparing executive briefings and making evidence-based recommendations on operational readiness.Communication and stakeholder engagement – you can translate complex issues into clear messages, build trust with diverse stakeholder groups and secure alignment across operational, technical, commercial and delivery teams.Problem solving and continuous improvement – you use data, insight and lessons learned to identify root causes, improve processes and create practical solutions that can be embedded into business-as-usual operations.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.