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 seeking a Senior Manager, Ground Experience, will take charge of orchestrating the conception, construction, and continuous oversight of ground-based guest experiences. This pivotal role encompasses the comprehensive end-to-end guest journey, encompassing check-in, bag drop, security, transfers, transportation, retail, boarding, multiuse and partner features, as well as pre and post journey elements. Collaboration with leaders across Ground Handling, Inflight Experience, Lounge, Service Strategy, and Operations teams is essential for the refinement of products, service processes, and training programs. A significant emphasis will be placed on digital integration across both guest and employee touchpoints, leveraging the latest advancements to comprehend, anticipate, and enhance offerings while achieving operational efficiencies.

JOB PURPOSE:

The Senior Manager, Ground Experience, assumes the responsibility for the holistic design and implementation of ground service procedures across various sectors, aligning seamlessly with Inflight and Digital experiences. These procedures are geared towards being best-in-class, mirroring the overall brand positioning of the business. The role involves collaborating with internal stakeholders to craft detailed and distinctive services, prioritizing attention to detail to enhance the overall guest experience, loyalty, and satisfaction. This role reports to the Head of Experience Design.

 KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES:

• Translate service vision into guest experience standards for the end-to-end of the ground experience such as check-in, bag drop, security, transfers, transportation, retail, and boarding.
• Ensure that appropriate collaboration is undertaken across key product development stakeholders so that hard products and assets such as airport, security, lounges, facilities, food and beverage, transportation, retail, check-in environment, boarding environment etc. meets the service requirements of the business.
• Develop guest-centric strategies to cater for different personas, such as premium, top tier loyalty, family, VIP, and others.
• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to continuously map out and review the end-to-end guest experience journey to establish experience drivers and performance standards across all guests facing touchpoints at both its airport hub and global network supported by best-in-class practices and methodologies such as journey mapping, developing service skeletons, concepts, and toolkits for the organization.
• Collaborate with the Senior Manager Lounges to ensure a seamless experience between the broader ground experience and the elevated premium lounge experience.
• Participate in best practices on guest experience design leveraging technology for airports and ground experience with a focus on On-Time Performance (OTP), reduction of pain points, disruption management, service recovery and driving unique signature experiences.
• Work with digital/system partners to drive seamlessness in the ground experience such as disruption management, self-service and any other kind of automation that would ease journey pain points and deliver guest satisfaction.
• Be involved in projects, policy formulation and data analytics to improve service quality and drive innovation in the airport experience.
• Ensure continuous understanding of guest profiles, traveler needs and champion the needs across personas, such as premium, top tier loyalty, family, VIP, and others.
• Provide detailed reports on project progress in a timely manner and identify challenges, risks wherever required.
• Support on any operational trials to gage on how to improve and enhance guest experience on the ground. Champion a guest centric culture through all necessary stakeholder meetings and engagements.
• Develop guest experience monitoring and auditing either through in-house teams, digital systems embedded through CRM platforms, or through external mystery shopper campaigns for both hub and airport.
• Support operating teams on establishing service level agreement standards of third-party service providers.
• Ensure that standards accurately capture and reflect the brand, promoting alignment across the organization for interdependencies among frontline, safety, operational KPIs, hard product, and network, while embodying the organization’s brand drivers.
• Ensure compliance with local and international regulatory requirements, through verification of training programs and implementation of procedures and operating policies.
• Nurture a guest-centric team to continuously enhance service delivery through collaborative discussion, demonstrating respect for diverse opinions and transparent feedback.
• Leverage the integration of the latest technologies in guest relationship management and data intelligence to drive insights in guest intelligence to improve service quality and drive innovation in the airport and across ground experiences.
• Align grooming standards and monitoring programs to maintain the brand stature of the business.
• Ensure that audit and mystery shopper programs are implemented to continuously monitor frontline staff performance.
• Vendor management
• Perform any related activities according to business requirements.

 PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

• Minimum of 10 years of professional operational experience, preferably with a strong guest service orientation.
• A proven track record of professionalism and accomplishment with a leading airline in guest experience, branding, and product development is required, with at least 5 years in a managerial position.

 ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in aviation, Hospitality, Business Administration, or a related discipline is preferred field is preferred.

 SKILLS

• Strong leadership and management skills, with the ability to motivate and develop teams.
• Excellent command of English spoken and written.
• Arabic language is an advantage.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills, with the ability to manage complex operations in a fast-paced environment.
• Knowledge of airport operations industry trends and best practices.
• Experience in project management tools and software.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

 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.

Source: Riyadh Air