Senior Manager - Inflight Experience

Riyadh Air, headquartered in the Saudi Capital, is the new national airline that’s shaping the future of flying. It seeks to lead the aviation industry by transforming Saudi Arabia into a global aviation and trade hub – a new, digitally native airline, connecting the kingdom to more than 100 destinations.

Riyadh Air is recruiting a Head, Inflight Experience to oversee the design, build-out and ongoing management of the inflight guest experience of a world-class airline.

This role will be responsible for in-flight products and services such as food and beverage (culinary offering, chef partnerships, dishware), amenities (sleep, wellness), audio (announcements, boarding music), and other associated activities. This role reports to the Vice President, Guest Experience.

JOB PURPOSE:

The successful candidate must be able to develop and implement workable solutions for best-in-class inflight service design and work with the wider team to ensure that these are translated appropriately into products, service processes and training programs. There will be a strong focus on digital guest touchpoints and utilizing the latest industry advances to understand, predict and improve offerings and deliver operational efficiencies.

The Head of Inflight Experience shall be responsible for the overall design and development of all service procedures onboard and on the ground for different sectors and flight profiles. These procedures will be best-in-class and reflect the overall brand positioning of the business. The candidate shall work with various stakeholders within the company to drive the design of detailed, signature services that deliver long-term guest loyalty and satisfaction.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES:

• Closely work with internal stakeholders to champion guest experience excellence through insight into the business’ brand strategy and brand platform, guest needs and operational constraints.
• Lead the development of the guest experience product and service development offering through best-in-class practices and methodologies such as journey mapping, developing service skeletons, concepts, and toolkits for the organization.
• Ensure continuous understanding of guest profiles, traveler needs and champion the needs of the guest.
• Leverage the integration of the latest technologies in guest relationship management and data intelligence to drive insights in guest intelligence to improve product and service offering.
• Ensure that appropriate collaboration is undertaken for key product development stakeholders so that hard products such as seats, galleys, lavatories, food and beverage, lounges, check-in environment, boarding environment etc. meets the service requirements of the business.
• Nurture a guest-centric team to continuously enhance service delivery through collaborative discussion, demonstrating respect for diverse opinions and transparent feedback.
• Ensure standards are appropriately captured and all interdependencies are aligned between frontline, safety, operational KPIs, hard product, network and reflects the brand drivers of the organization.
• Ensure changes to service standards and procedures are published in a timely manner and are communicated to relevant internal stakeholders.
• Develop grooming standards and monitoring programs to maintain the brand stature of the business.
• Vendor management
• Ensure that audit and mystery shopper programs are implemented to continuously monitor frontline staff performance.
• Perform any related activities according to business requirements.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

• Minimum of 7 years of professional experience with a strong background in the development of hospitality products and service design.

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in business, Design, Marketing, or any related field.
• Post-graduation qualification will be an added advantage.

SKILLS

• Strong understanding of cabin crew flight safety and operating environments.
• Extensive experience in learning design and training implementation.
• Extensive knowledge of aircraft types, galley loading and service equipment.
• Able to articulate guest experiences needs into clear processes and practices.
• Strong appreciation and understanding of various guest demographics, psychographics and cultural diversity and interpersonal styles.
• Demonstrate strong change management, influencing, mentoring, and coaching skills to manage team performance and workflow and to foster teamwork.
• Good interpersonal skills
• Strong sense of initiative and accountability
• High level of professionalism and work ethic
• Adaptability and desire to work in an evolving/start-up environment where policies and processes are being created.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong proficiency in MS Office.

 COMPETENCIES:

• Drives Vision and Purpose – Paint a compelling picture of the vision and strategy that motivates others to action.
• Communicates Effectively – Developing and delivering multi-mode communication that conveys a clear understanding of unique needs of different audiences.
• Health and Safety – Applying a combination of training skills, experience, and knowledge to perform a task safely.
• Instills Trust – Gaining the confidence and trust of others through honesty, integrity, and authenticity.
• Customer Focus – Building customer relationships and delivering customer centric solutions.
• Ensures Accountability – Holding oneself and others accountable for meeting commitments.
• Teamwork & Collaboration – Building partnerships and working collaboratively with others as a team to meet shared objectives.

The city that is already transforming the way we live is now redefining the way we fly.  Riyadh Air, a brand-new chapter in the sky. The new national airline that’s shaping the future of flying.