Lead Technology Analyst - Emerging Trends

Southwest Airlines • Dallas, TX

4d • $148,040 - $154,200 • Remote

About The Position

As a Lead Technology Analyst supporting the Emerging Trends Team, you’ll shape how Southwest explores, tests, and learns from emerging technologies and innovative solutions. You’ll lead experiments from early opportunity development through planning, execution, evaluation, and closeout, partnering with Business Teams, Technology Partners, startups, and internal stakeholders to identify what Southwest needs to learn and design the best way to test it. You’ll navigate unfamiliar technologies and complex business challenges, bring the right partners together, and turn early ideas into structured, real-world experiments. You’ll define success measures, guide experiments through the appropriate governance and internal processes, and keep testing focused on the questions that matter most. You’ll then translate findings into clear insights about business value, feasibility, tradeoffs, dependencies, and potential next steps, helping Business and Technology Leaders make informed investment decisions. Beyond individual experiments, you’ll strengthen the Emerging Trends Team’s overall approach by improving the frameworks, tools, and processes that help Southwest learn faster, reduce uncertainty, and shape its future technology direction.

Requirements

• Advanced knowledge of business analysis, process modeling and redesign
• Advanced knowledge of technical environments
• Advanced knowledge of software development methodologies
• Skilled in excellent partnering, communication, and negotiation in working with various Teams and/or external partners
• Ability to analyze large, complex, or vague Business or technical problems, articulating the problem or root cause, and translating the analysis into viable solution recommendations
• Ability to analyze data and trends, draw conclusions, and make recommendations based on analysis
• Ability to work effectively in a strong Customer service/team oriented environment
• Ability to research, create, and document requirements, processes, and technical specifications
• Ability to manage and prioritize multiple and widely varied work streams/tasks
• Ability to take on multiple assignments, whether administrative or project related, while maintaining a successful level of completion in all responsible work; able to mentor others to do the same
• Ability to develop, present and effectively communicate ideas and strategies to a variety of audiences, including Senior Leadership
• Ability to teach and mentor others concerning technical and business subjects
• Expert-level experience, seasoned and specialized knowledge in information technology (IT) operations, programming, systems/software development or another IT related field
• Must maintain a well-groomed appearance per Company appearance standards as described in established guidelines
• Must be a U.S. citizen or have authorization to work in the United States as defined by the Immigration Reform Act of 1986
• Must be at least 18 years of age
• Must be able to comply with Company attendance standards as described in established guidelines
• Must be able to travel and / or attend Company and non-Company facilities and remote locations such as remote-based offices as necessary

Nice To Haves

• Experience leading technology experimentation, evaluating emerging technologies and solutions
• Experience running technology proofs-of-concept start to finish

Responsibilities

• Apply and teach knowledge and skills of analysis, business processes, tools, domains, project methodologies, requirements definitions, and testing to solve a range of problems
• Partner with other Technology Team members to provide advice or solutions within areas of expertise
• Identify and provide strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems and search for and seize opportunities to do more or to do things better
• Estimate effort and value for solutions
• Apply and teach business solutions with broad level knowledge about technology platforms/architectures
• Verify information and carefully review and check the accuracy of your own work and the work of others’ using dependency identification processes in technology work
• Establish or follow prioritization processes to drive work, completing work with a sense of urgency
• Express ideas, business or technical requirements clearly and concisely verbally and in writing using appropriate levels of summary and synthesis on a regular and consistent basis
• Monitor program risks, issues, and scope, ensuring the appropriate level of priority, visibility and escalation
• May perform other job duties as directed by Employee's Leaders

Benefits

• Fly for free, as a privilege, on any open seat on all Southwest flights (your eligible dependents too)
• Southwest will help fund your Retirement Savings Plan with Company contributions up to 9.3% of your eligible earnings
• Potential for annual ProfitSharing contribution in the Southwest Retirement Savings Plan- when Southwest profits, you profit
• Competitive health insurance for you and your eligible dependents (including pets)
• Southwest offers health plan coverage options that start from the very first day of employment. You will have 30 days to select and enroll in your health plan with coverage retroactively available to your first day of employment.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Associate degree