Customer Program Manager - Commercial

AAR Corp•Hot Springs, AR

About The Position

The Customer Program Manager is responsible for the overall performance, profitability, and customer experience of assigned commercial airline programs within an FAA Part 145 MRO repair station. This role serves as the single accountable owner for assigned customer assets from receipt and induction through quote, customer approval, repair execution, delivery, invoicing support, warranty, and follow-on account growth. The position requires strong business acumen, sound judgment, and the ability to balance customer needs with company financial, operational, contractual, and compliance requirements. The Customer Program Manager owns program performance, drives customer communication, manages repair lifecycle risk, supports pricing and contract decisions, and ensures assigned programs meet expectations for turnaround time, on-time delivery, quality, revenue conversion, margin, and customer satisfaction. This role works cross-functionally with Operations, Planning, Engineering, Quality, Materials, Purchasing, Finance, Sales, and Shipping/Receiving to keep customer commitments on track. The Customer Program Manager is expected to identify issues early, lead recovery actions, make fiscally responsible recommendations, and represent the company as a knowledgeable, commercially aware partner to assigned airline customers.

Requirements

Must be able to read, write, speak, and understand the English language.
Master’s degree in Business, Aviation Management, Engineering, Supply Chain, or related field with 5+ years of relevant commercial aviation, MRO, customer program management, contract administration, pricing, operations, or customer account ownership experience preferred; or Bachelor’s degree in a related field with 7+ years of relevant experience.
FAA Part 145 MRO, component repair, commercial airline support, aviation program management, or aviation contract/customer account management experience strongly preferred.
Demonstrated ability to own customer programs, repair lifecycle execution, customer communication, and cross-functional recovery actions in a complex operational environment.
Strong business acumen with ability to understand ROI, margin, revenue conversion, cost drivers, warranty exposure, pricing impact, and fiscally responsible decision making.
Experience reviewing or supporting customer contracts, purchase orders, repair quotes, MSAs, SOWs, pricing agreements, warranty claims, and customer scorecards preferred.
Working knowledge of aircraft component repair, maintenance service contracts, rotable/exchange processes, customer-owned assets, and commercial airline operational needs preferred.
Familiarity with FAA Part 145 repair station operations, quality systems, approved technical data, return-to-service documentation, and customer maintenance program requirements preferred.
Excellent written and oral communication skills, including ability to communicate clearly with customers, shop personnel, leadership, and cross-functional teams.
Proficient in spreadsheet, word processing, presentation, and Internet software. Syteline ERP system or other ERP/MRO system knowledge is preferable.
Ability to organize, prioritize, and make sound decisions across multiple customers, programs, and competing business priorities.
Strong customer relationship, problem-solving, negotiation, follow-up, escalation-management, and program review skills.
Ability to lead through influence across Operations, Engineering, Quality, Materials, Planning, Finance, Sales, and other departments.
Ability to travel for customer visits, audits, business reviews, trade shows, and program support as required.

Responsibilities

Know and understand company and department policies, safety procedures, and FAA Part 145 repair station requirements.
Serve as the single accountable owner for assigned commercial airline customer programs and customer-owned assets throughout the repair lifecycle.
Own assigned customer repair orders from receipt/induction through inspection findings, quote, approval, repair, final documentation, shipment, invoicing support, warranty, and closeout.
Act as the primary customer point of contact for assigned programs, including status, technical findings, commercial issues, delivery risk, warranty matters, and escalation items.
Drive program performance against customer and internal expectations for TAT, OTD, quote turnaround, backlog aging, revenue conversion, margin, quality, and customer scorecards.
Use business acumen to evaluate ROI, cost impact, margin, resource priorities, warranty exposure, and risk/reward tradeoffs before making program recommendations.
Support pricing, quote strategy, and commercial decisions to ensure repair scopes, labor, material, outside services, freight, warranty exposure, and customer terms are properly considered.
Review customer purchase orders, repair orders, approvals, contractual requirements, and special terms to ensure alignment with quoted scope, pricing, schedule, and company policy.
Lead cross-functional coordination with Operations, Planning, Engineering, Quality, Materials, Purchasing, Finance, Sales, and Shipping/Receiving to execute customer commitments.
Manage repair scope changes, over-and-above findings, customer approvals, beyond-economic-repair discussions, exchange options, core returns, and rotable support decisions.
Monitor open work, aging units, material constraints, engineering holds, quality holds, customer approval delays, and delivery risks; escalate with recommended recovery actions.
Prepare and lead customer program reviews, business reviews, and internal program updates covering open units, KPI performance, risks, opportunities, financial impact, and recovery plans.
Develop and maintain strong relationships with commercial airline contacts, including procurement, technical operations, engineering, fleet support, supplier management, and leadership.
Investigate and resolve customer concerns related to delivery, documentation, warranty, quality, pricing, invoices, and contractual expectations.
Support warranty, concession, and claim activity by coordinating repair history, technical input, contractual position, financial impact, and customer communication.
Manage rotable, exchange, customer-owned asset, and core return processes for assigned programs, as applicable.
Maintain accurate customer, contract, quote, repair order, status, KPI, and program records in the ERP system and related tracking tools.
Identify account growth opportunities, capability expansion opportunities, and recurring customer issues that may support additional revenue or improved customer retention.
Support RFP/RFQ activity, contract renewals, pricing updates, customer visits, audits, trade shows, and business development activities as required.
Make fact-based decisions and recommendations using data, customer requirements, operational status, and financial impact rather than assumptions.
Other various duties as needed or as assigned.