Director of Charter Operations and Sales Management

Jet Aviation•Scottsdale, AZ

About The Position

The Director, Charter Operations and Sales Management, is responsible for the day-to-day leadership, administration, performance, and continuous improvement of Jet Aviation’s Charter Operations and Charter Sales functions. This position combines the operational leadership responsibilities of Charter Operations with the commercial, customer, and sales leadership responsibilities of the Charter Sales. The Director will lead an integrated organization responsible for charter operations, charter sales, fleet optimization, customer relationships, trip coordination, and related support activities. The Director will ensure that Charter Sales and Charter Operations work together effectively to deliver safe, compliant, efficient, commercially sound, and high-touch charter services. The role will be responsible for translating strategic priorities into clear team expectations, disciplined processes, measurable performance, and consistent execution. A significant component of this position is leading the continued evolution of the department’s culture and operating model. The Director will strengthen accountability, communication, collaboration, leadership capability, employee engagement, and performance while preserving effective existing practices. The role will also identify and implement opportunities for growth, operational improvement, customer retention, revenue development, and increased organizational scalability. The Director, Charter Operations and Sales management, reports to the Senior Director, Trip and Charter Services. The VP of Business Development retains ownership of charter sales goals, sales metrics, and sales KPIs. The Director is responsible for the day-to-day leadership, execution, coaching, and management of the sales team and for ensuring that sales activity is aligned with operational capability and customer requirements.

Requirements

At least 10 years of progressive experience in charter operations, business aviation, charter sales, aircraft management, aviation services, transportation, or a related field.
Demonstrated experience leading both operational and commercial activities within an aviation or customer-focused service environment.
Experience managing mixed-level teams of professionals, managers, leads, and sales personnel.
Proven experience setting standards, maintaining operating guidelines, managing performance, and implementing business plans.
Thorough knowledge of aviation charter sales processes, customer service, operational coordination, scheduling, pricing, and commercial drivers.
Demonstrated experience managing client relationships, customer escalations, vendor relationships, and cross-functional business partnerships.
Experience working in a matrix organization and influencing stakeholders without direct authority.
Demonstrated experience leading organizational change, culture evolution, process improvement, or performance transformation.
Strong understanding of budgeting, forecasting, pricing, yield, revenue integrity, and financial performance.
Ability to read, write, and communicate fluently in English.
Ability to communicate issues, business implications, risks, and resolutions accurately and succinctly to diverse internal and external stakeholders.
Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as discounts, percentages, commissions, pricing adjustments, and other commercial measures.
Must be autonomous, organized, and detail oriented, with the ability to make sound decisions in a dynamic operating environment.
Demonstrated interpersonal skills and the ability to establish rapport with internal customers, clients, vendors, and cross-functional partners.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in aviation management, business administration, sales, operations, finance, or a relevant aviation experience.
Strong project management, strategic planning, and change management experience.
Advanced knowledge of the business aviation, charter, and competitive landscape.
Strong knowledge of economic and commercial drivers and their implications for company performance.
Demonstrated experience with KPI-driven management of a major function, region, or complex department.
Strong sales leadership and commercial development capabilities.
Strong analytical skills and the ability to translate operational, customer, market, fleet, and financial data into actionable priorities.
Demonstrated ability to improve culture, accountability, communication, and performance within an established organization.
Experience implementing systems, technology, process improvements, or business transformations.
Extraordinary customer focus and a demonstrated commitment to high-touch service excellence.
Strong communication, influencing, negotiation, and presentation skills.
Ability to lead through ambiguity, competing priorities, operational disruption, and organizational change.
Strong personal values corresponding with Jet Aviation values of Trust, Honesty, Alignment, and Transparency.
Ability to develop strong teams, coach leaders, and create a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Responsibilities

Lead the continued evolution of the Charter Operations and Sales organization to support growth, improved performance, stronger customer relationships, and greater operational consistency.
Establish a high-performance culture built on accountability, collaboration, transparency, service excellence, continuous improvement, and respect.
Assess existing structures, processes, behaviors, communication practices, and performance standards to identify what should be preserved, improved, or changed.
Clearly communicate the department’s vision, priorities, standards, responsibilities, and expected behaviors.
Create an environment in which employees understand how their work contributes to customer satisfaction, operational reliability, commercial performance, and the broader Jet Aviation business.
Address inconsistent performance, communication gaps, siloed decision-making, process weaknesses, and behaviors that are inconsistent with Jet Aviation’s values.
Lead change in a manner that builds trust, maintains employee engagement, and recognizes the contributions of existing employees and leaders.
Establish consistent leadership practices across Charter Operations, Charter Sales, Trip Scheduling, and Client Services.
Use employee feedback, customer feedback, performance data, operational trends, and business results to identify opportunities for organizational improvement.
Develop and execute a culture and organizational evolution plan with defined priorities, milestones, ownership, and measures of success.
Promote Jet Aviation’s values of Trust, Honesty, Alignment, and Transparency in all leadership decisions, employee interactions, customer relationships, and business activities.
Improve aircraft utilization, commercial opportunity identification, schedule efficiency, and operational reliability.
Develop clear accountability, communication, decision rights, and performance expectations across the department.
Implement culture change and organizational evolution initiatives.
Improve employee engagement, leadership capability, retention, collaboration, and development.
Develop process to reduce service failures, process inefficiencies, revenue risk, scheduling conflicts, customer complaints, and cross-functional issues.
Promote Jet Aviation’s capabilities to customers, brokers, channel partners, and other external stakeholders.
Represent Jet Aviation at appropriate customer meetings, trade association events, industry forums, and business development activities.
Establish effective communication and operating routines among Charter Sales, Charter Operations, Fleet Optimization, Trip Scheduling, Flight Operations, Maintenance, Finance, Customer Service, and other business units.
Coordinate communication between Charter Sales and other business units to ensure that customer requirements and commercial commitments are accurately communicated and operationally supported.
Communicate regularly with the Senior Director, VP of Business Development, and other appropriate management team members regarding relevant business, customer, financial, operational, staffing, and performance matters.
Ensure important issues are escalated promptly with clear information regarding impact, root cause, options, and recommended resolution.
Promote alignment across departments by establishing shared goals, common definitions, clear ownership, and collaborative decision-making.
Represent Jet Aviation as one company internally and externally with clients, vendors, industry groups, regulatory bodies, and the General Dynamics network.
Direct, organize, and oversee the day-to-day activities of the Charter Operations department to ensure that all related activities are efficient, compliant, customer-focused, and aligned with business objectives.
Establish operational priorities, standards, procedures, work expectations, and communication practices for Charter Operations.
Ensure that Charter Operations has the appropriate staffing, skills, processes, tools, and resources to meet customer and business requirements.
Manage and support personnel and operations critical to flight scheduling and the charter organization.
Identify operational risks and implement timely corrective actions to prevent recurring service failures, customer dissatisfaction, or financial impact.
Promote coordination among Charter Operations, Trip Scheduling, Flight Operations, Maintenance, Finance, Client Services, and Charter Sales.
Establish effective escalation processes for customer, operational, staffing, scheduling, and cross-functional matters.
Lead the day-to-day execution of the Charter Sales function, including sales personnel, sales processes, customer opportunities, and pricing coordination.
Partner with the VP of Business Development to execute the approved charter sales strategy and support the achievement of established sales goals, metrics, and KPIs.
Ensure sales team activities, pipeline development, customer account management, pricing decisions, and commercial initiatives are aligned with Jet Aviation’s overall business development priorities.
Direct the retention of current clients and the development of current and future client accounts.
Develop a disciplined sales operating rhythm that includes pipeline reviews, opportunity reviews, customer account planning, forecast discussions, pricing coordination, and performance feedback.
Ensure sales personnel have the information, tools, training, systems, and operational support necessary to effectively serve customers and develop business.
Support sales representatives with customer quotes, sales information, order processing, product knowledge, and related administrative requirements.
Coordinate closely with the VP of Business Development regarding sales performance, market opportunities, customer trends, pricing, commercial risks, and recommended actions.
Ensure sales opportunities are properly qualified and that commitments made to customers are accurate, achievable, and aligned with aircraft availability, scheduling, operational, and financial considerations.
Support the development of charter sales on market analysis, customer needs, volume potential, pricing considerations, competitive conditions, and available fleet capacity.
Identify additional business opportunities within existing accounts and ensure opportunities generated through Charter Operations or customer interactions are directed to the appropriate sales process.
Lead the integration of Fleet Optimization into Charter Sales, Trip Scheduling, and Charter Operations.
Build and maintain strong relationships with clients, aircraft owners, brokers, vendors, channel partners, and internal stakeholders.
Ensure new and existing customers receive high-touch service excellence related to charter requests, trip planning, scheduling, billing inquiries, suggestions, complaints, and service concerns.
Focus on retaining clients and strengthening relationships through consistent, responsive, accurate, and proactive support.
Serve as an escalation resource when client or internal conflicts become elevated. Resolve escalated inquiries, complaints, and service issues fairly, effectively, and in a manner that supports long-term customer trust.
Ensure the team understands customer expectations and consistently represents Jet Aviation with professionalism, responsiveness, and service excellence.
Monitor customer feedback, account trends, recurring complaints, service failures, and retention risks.
Ensure customer feedback is converted into actionable improvements across sales, scheduling, operations, fleet optimization, and service delivery.
Monitor pricing and decisions to ensure they support operational feasibility, and business performance. Review market information, customer needs, volume potential, price schedules, discount considerations, and competitive conditions to support appropriate charter sales initiatives.
Lead the development of the annual departmental cost center budget for Charter Operations, Charter Sales, and related support activities in partnership with Senior Directors, VP of Flight Services, VP of Business Development, Finance, and Accounting.
Prepare budget assumptions based on anticipated staffing, compensation, training, technology, vendor services, travel, customer support, operational requirements, fleet optimization activities, and other departmental expenses.
Monitor departmental expenditures throughout the year to ensure alignment with approved budgets, cost center objectives, operational requirements, and company financial expectations.
Participate in monthly financial reviews, forecasting, accrual planning, and year-end projections with Finance and Accounting.
Incorporate actual trip costs, forecasted activity, staffing requirements, sales initiatives, vendor expenses, and operational changes into budget updates and financial forecasts.
Develop and maintain a clear understanding of the total cost of each charter trip, including aircraft operating costs, fuel, crew expenses, repositioning, landing and handling fees, catering, permits, navigation charges, overnight expenses, vendor services, maintenance considerations, and other trip-specific expenses.
Reconcile actual trip costs against the original customer quote, approved estimate, and expected margin to identify variances, billing discrepancies, missed expenses, pricing inaccuracies, and revenue risk.
Participate in month-end forecasting, accrual reviews, financial reporting, and reconciliation activities with Accounting and Finance to ensure that completed and upcoming trips are accurately represented in financial results.
Review open trips, completed trips, outstanding expenses, vendor invoices, customer billing, and anticipated costs to support accurate month-end close and forward-looking forecasts.
Use actual trip cost data to improve future quoting accuracy, pricing discipline, budget management, margin analysis, and commercial decision-making.
Drive department performance toward established company, departmental, operational, customer, commercial, budget, and KPI objectives.
Partner with the Senior Director and VP of Business Development to establish clear accountability for responsibilities, targets, activities, and results.
Monitor performance against approved objectives and provide regular reporting on trends, risks, opportunities, and recommended actions.
Establish regular operating reviews for Charter Operations, Charter Sales, and Trip Scheduling.
Use data and performance information to identify root causes, prioritize improvement opportunities, and make informed decisions.
Hold managers, leads, and employees accountable for performance, conduct, communication, process adherence, and customer service.
Recognize strong performance and address performance gaps promptly, fairly, consistently, and in accordance with applicable company policies.
Ensure department goals and individual expectations are clearly documented and understood.
In partnership with the Senior Director, VP of Business Development, and Human Resources, participate in hiring, onboarding, training, performance management, employee development, succession planning, discipline, and other personnel matters.
Recruit, develop, and retain high-performing employees with the capabilities required to support charter operations, sales growth, customer experience, fleet optimization, and organizational change.
Participate in Annual and Midyear reviews in partnership with the Senior Director, VP’s and Human Resources.
Establish development plans for employees and provide regular coaching, feedback, and guidance.
Develop managers, and leads to improve leadership capability.
Ensure employees understand their responsibilities, decision rights, and performance expectations.