Automation & AI Strategy Lead – Engineering & Operations

United Airlines; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 141,000 - 183,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

Dental benefits

Vision benefits

Life insurance

Parental leave

Flight privileges

401(k)

Job summary

United Airlines is seeking a Manager of Automation & AI within our Digital Technology organization in the United States. You will lead strategy, governance, and execution of automation and AI initiatives across Engineering and Operations to improve service reliability, efficiency, and customer outcomes.

This role partners with AI COE, operations, and platform teams to build scalable delivery models, establish governance, and measure real business value.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in a related field.
• 5+ years progressive technology leadership experience.
• 3+ years leading automation, AI, platform engineering, or transformation initiatives.
• Ability to manage department operations, budgets, and staffing.
• Strong IT automation and AI subject matter expertise.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the Automation & AI roadmap across Engineering and Operations.
• Establish governance processes, intake models, prioritization frameworks, and value realization methods.
• Lead identification and evaluation of automation and AI opportunities across teams.
• Create executive-level metrics and reporting demonstrating business value and improvements.
• Partner with senior technology leaders to align investments and priorities.
• Drive standards, reusable patterns, and guardrails for automation and AI initiatives.
• Manage end-to-end lifecycle from ideation to deployment and continuous improvement.

Skills

Technology leadership

Automation & AI

Budgeting & staffing

Project management

Executive reporting

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Business Administration, Data Analytics, or related field

Tools

AWS cloud architecture

Microservices

API management

Robotic Process Automation

Job description

United Airlines is seeking a Manager of Automation & AI within our Digital Technology organization in the United States. You will lead strategy, governance, and execution of automation and AI initiatives across Engineering and Operations to improve service reliability, efficiency, and customer outcomes.

This role partners with AI COE, operations, and platform teams to build scalable delivery models, establish governance, and measure real business value.