Senior Manager Ops Product Delivery

United; Arlington Heights (IL); On-site; USD 128,000 - 166,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

Dental benefits

Vision benefits

Life insurance

Parental leave

Employee assistance program

Commuter benefits

Paid holidays

Paid time off

401(k)

Flight privileges

Job summary

United Airlines is seeking a Sr Manager - Ops Product Delivery to lead a team delivering new products and processes across Air Operations and Finance. You will translate executive intent into an executable change agenda and ensure adoption through governance, metrics, and training.

You will partner with senior leaders, manage resources, and balance priorities while driving continuous improvement and process optimization across multiple functions including Flight Operations, Inflight, Technical

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or 4 years of relevant work experience.
• Experience in change management, operations, or organizational development.
• 5+ years of related experience.
• Ability to lead and coach a professional team and hold outcomes accountable.
• Influence senior leaders and manage resistance with credibility.
• Knowledge of end-to-end change management methodology and stakeholder analyses.

Responsibilities

• Own the change management strategy and delivery roadmap for a portfolio of initiatives.
• Lead, coach and develop internal or contractor team.
• Serve as the change partner to officers and cross-functional leaders.
• Establish project structure and governance across the portfolio.
• Define change management KPIs and report adoption and change effectiveness.
• Direct process optimization initiatives to streamline workflows and improve quality.
• Set standards, playbooks, and tools for change and continuous improvement.

Skills

Change management leadership

Portfolio prioritization

Data-driven decision making

Stakeholder management

Team leadership

Communication skills

Adaptability

Education

Bachelor's degree or 4 years of relevant work experience

Master's degree (MBA or Organizational Development or Industrial Engineering)

Tools

Power BI

Minitab

Smartsheet

Asana

Job description

Achieving our goals starts with supporting yours. Grow your career, access top-tier health and wellness benefits, build lasting connections with your team and our customers, and travel the world using our extensive route network.

Come join us to create what’s next. Let’s define tomorrow, together.

Description

Get ready for a career at the leading edge of the airline industry! Our Flight Operations team works hard to connect people and unite the world safely, reliably and efficiently every single day. From industry leadership and pioneering technologies to next-level training — our Flight Ops team hires, trains, qualifies and supports the best pilots in the industry. The moments we share in the air and on the ground with our customers and our colleagues make United a special place to work and a great way to fly, together.

Job Overview and Responsibilities

The Sr Manager - Ops Product Delivery leads a team of change and delivery professionals, either full time or contractors, responsible for the design, delivery and adoption of new products and processes across the Air Operations and Finance organization.

This role owns the change management portfolio for a defined set of enterprise and departmental initiatives, setting strategy, sequencing work against operational capacity, and holding the team accountable for measurable adoption outcomes. It is accountable for the quality and consistency of change management practice, not only for the delivery of individual initiatives.

This role translates senior leader intent into an executable change agenda. It partners directly with officers, project sponsors and cross-functional leaders to align initiative scope, secure resourcing, resolve competing priorities, and make the trade‑off decisions that keep adoption on track when operational conditions shift. It combines change management methodology with expertise in process optimization and continuous improvement to meet the challenges of internal customers across Flight Operations, Inflight and Technical Operations, as well as Finance.

This role is also responsible for raising the capability of the wider organization through standards, playbooks, tooling and the development of a change champion network. Work is informed by data analysis, employee feedback and leader input.

The Sr Manager establishes the governance, measurement frameworks and reinforcement mechanisms that sustain adoption after go‑live, and reports portfolio health, adoption metrics and risks to senior leadership on a recurring basis.

• Own the change management strategy and delivery roadmap for a portfolio of enterprise and departmental initiatives, sequencing work against operational capacity and business priorities.
• Lead, coach and/or develop internal or contractor team, including hiring, performance management, workload balancing and capability building.
• Serve as the change partner to officers, project sponsors and cross‑functional leaders across departments, securing alignment and resolving competing priorities and resistance
• Establish project structure, governance and escalation paths across the portfolio, and review the impact assessments, stakeholder analyses and readiness evaluations the team produces.
• Help define change management KPIs, and measurement frameworks, and report adoption, sustainment and change effectiveness to senior leadership.
• Direct process optimization initiatives across multiple business functions to streamline workflows, eliminate inefficiency and improve the quality of organizational output.
• Set the standards, playbooks and tools for change and continuous improvement practice, including oversight of communication and training plans and the change champion network.

Qualifications

What’s needed to succeed (Minimum Qualifications):

• Bachelor's degree or 4 years of relevant work experience
• Change Management, Business Accumen, Operations Management, Industrial Engineering, Organizational Development, or related field
• 5+ years of related experience
• Ability to lead, coach and develop a team of professionals, set clear performance expectations and hold others accountable for outcomes
• Ability to influence and advise senior leaders and officers, including navigating resistance and delivering difficult messages with credibility
• Knowledge of end-to-end change management methodology, including stakeholder analysis, impact assessment, readiness, reinforcement and sustainment
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills, with expertise in data‑driven decision‑making and portfolio prioritization
• Excellent communication, facilitation and stakeholder management abilities across frontline, management and officer audiences
• Ability to balance strategic thinking with hands‑on execution, and to shift between the two as operational conditions change
• Adaptability and resilience in leading teams and business partners through ambiguity and sustained change.

What will help you propel from the pack (Preferred Qualifications):

• Master's degree
• MBA or a master's degree in Organizational Development or Industrial Engineering
• Direct people leadership experience in a matrixed or multi‑site operating environment; airline or other 24/7 operations experience
• PROSCI or equivalent Change Management certification highly desirable
• Six Sigma Green Belt
• Black Belt or Master Black Belt preferred
• Deep understanding of Lean/Six Sigma methodologies and tools
• Proficiency in project management and performance tracking tools (e.g., Power BI, Minitab, Smartsheet, Asana)

The base pay range for this role is $127,870.00 to $166,492.00.

The base salary range/hourly rate listed is dependent on job‑related, factors such as experience, education, and skills. This position is also eligible for bonus and/or long‑term incentive compensation awards.

You may be eligible for the following competitive benefits: medical, dental, vision, life, accident & disability, parental leave, employee assistance program, commuter, paid holidays, paid time off, 401(k) and flight privileges.

United Airlines is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We recruit, employ, train, compensate, and promote without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, veteran status, or any other protected category under applicable law. We provide reasonable accommodations for applicants and employees with disabilities. To request an accommodation, contact [e-mail]