Senior Manager - Heavy Maintenance Planning

At United, we have some of the best aircraft in the world. Our Technical Operations team is full of aircraft maintenance technicians, engineers, planners, ground equipment and facilities professionals, and supply chain teams that help make sure they’re well taken care of and ready to get our customers to their desired destinations. If you’re ready to work on our planes, join our Tech Ops experts and help keep our fleet in tip-top shape.

Job Overview and Responsibilities

The Senior Manager - Heavy Maintenance Planning leads a team responsible for the planning and preparation of heavy maintenance visits, including work package development, cross-functional coordination, and proactive resolution of planning and execution risks. This role requires strategic thinking, strong internal and external stakeholder relationships, and the ability to solve complex problems in a fast-paced operational environment.

In addition to leading daily planning activities and developing team members, the Senior Manager owns key strategic initiatives focused on:

• Optimizing maintenance work scope and base transitions
• Improving long-range forecasting
• Proactively identifying optimal opportunities to accomplish maintenance
• Driving maintenance program changes
• Developing and implementing new processes, tools, and capabilities to automate and improve planning processes

As Heavy Maintenance Planning evolves toward more predictive, data-driven, and automated planning, the Senior Manager will lead the associated process and organizational change, incorporating team member input and applying strong project and change management practices to drive measurable improvements in:

• Planning effectiveness
• Operational performance
• Efficiency

The Senior Manager will also identify and develop new value-added capabilities that leverage the team's unique expertise to support broader Technical Operations objectives, while establishing metrics and auditing mechanisms to measure effectiveness, ensure quality, and drive continuous improvement.

• Lead, coach, and develop the Heavy Maintenance Planning team responsible for work package development, maintenance visit preparation, critical task monitoring, performance metrics, and strong internal and external stakeholder relationships.
• Drive optimization of maintenance work scope, base transitions, and maintenance opportunities through data analysis, long-range forecasting, and proactive identification of opportunities to improve aircraft availability, maintenance efficiency, and cost.
• Monitor changes to long-range maintenance plans and associated operational and financial impacts, partnering with Strategic Planning, Line Planning, Airframe Vendor Management, and other key stakeholders to develop and implement proactive solutions.
• Ensure maintenance visits are positioned for successful execution by coordinating work scope, requirements, and plans across Engineering, Materials, Tooling, Production, external maintenance providers, and other support organizations, while proactively identifying and resolving planning and execution risks.
• Lead continuous improvement and transformation of Heavy Maintenance Planning by identifying opportunities to automate existing processes, developing new value-added capabilities that leverage the team's expertise, and implementing new tools, analytics, metrics, and auditing mechanisms to improve quality, efficiency, and planning effectiveness.

What’s needed to succeed (Minimum Qualifications):

• Bachelor's degree or 4 years of relevant work experience in Aviation Management, Business, Engineering, Aircraft Maintenance or related field
• 5+ years of leadership experience in operations, strategy, planning, forecasting, Continuous Improvement, or maintenance/aircraft scheduling function
• 5 years’ experience in managing multiple complex projects in aviation
• Strong background and knowledge of aircraft maintenance systems
• Working knowledge of Maintenance Programs, Aircraft Routing, Aircraft Maintenance Operations, FAA/Regulatory Compliance, and MRO operations
• Be adept in building presentations for senior leadership team
• Proficient in Excel and PowerPoint
• Be adept at juggling several projects and initiatives simultaneously through appropriate prioritization
• Strong interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills, with ability to effectively interact at all levels (including executive) and team with all internal and external business partners
• Up to 20% travel
• Must be legally authorized to work in the United States for any employer without sponsorship
• Successful completion of interview required to meet job qualification
• Reliable, punctual attendance is an essential function of the position

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

• Project Management
• Lean Six Sigma
• Airframe & Powerplant License
• Experience in Airline Maintenance planning and analysis functions
• Leadership experience in a technical operation environment

Equal Opportunity Employer
The University of Missouri System is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Equal Opportunity is and shall be provided for all employees and applicants for employment on the basis of their demonstrated ability and competence without unlawful discrimination on the basis of their race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, disability, or protected veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable state or federal law. This policy applies to all employment decisions including, but not limited to, recruiting, hiring, training, promotions, pay practices, benefits, disciplinary actions and terminations. For more information, visit https://www.umsystem.edu/ums/hr/eeo.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, disability, or protected veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable state or federal law.