Manager, Guest Experience

City of Philadelphia • Tinicum Township, PA

11d • Onsite

About The Position

The Manager of Guest Experience plays a critical role in ensuring an exceptional, consistent, and people-centered experience for all who pass through Philadelphia International Airport—including passengers, airlines, tenants, and PHL’s 17,000 badged employees. This role operates as a strategic leader within the Strategy Division, responsible for advancing a system-wide Guest Experience ecosystem that aligns with PHL’s enterprise strategic plan and brand promise. The Manager leads efforts to elevate the entire PHL Airport Community, ensuring that every interaction, across every touchpoint, reflects a shared standard of hospitality, operational excellence and Philadelphia’s unique sense of place. This individual oversees guest-facing operations, stakeholder engagement and airport-wide programs that enhance both passenger satisfaction and employee engagement while leveraging data, insights and performance metrics to continuously improve the end to end journey. This individual also manages the PHL WORKS program—the airport-wide customer service standards: Welcoming, Ownership, Respectful, Knowledgeable, and Seeks to connect—to support consistent, high-quality service delivery across the airport community.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in public relations, hospitality management, aviation management or a closely related field.
• Three to five years of experience in customer/guest experience, within a, hospitality, aviation, or large-scale service environments, with demonstrated experience in stakeholder management and program leadership.
• Enterprise strategy execution and change management
• Customer experience measurement frameworks (NPS, journey mapping, service design)
• Guest experience and customer service principles within aviation or large, multi-faceted public facilities.
• Airport tenant and airline operations.
• Workplace training, digital learning, and service skills development.
• Stakeholder engagement approaches and partnership management.
• Equity, accessibility, and inclusive customer support practices.
• Translating strategy into execution across complex organizations
• Using data to influence stakeholders and drive behavioral change
• Managing complex stakeholder relationships with airlines, tenants, and large employee populations.
• Communicating clearly, professionally, and empathetically with diverse audiences.
• Leading frontline service teams in high-traffic, dynamic environments.
• Coordinating programs, training, and recognition initiatives.
• Problem-solving, conflict de-escalation, and improving guest-facing processes.
• Lead without direct authority across a highly matrixed airport environment
• Balance operational realities with long-term strategic goals
• Build strong partnerships and represent Guest Experience with credibility and professionalism.
• Lead teams in delivering consistent, high-quality service.
• Navigate a fast-paced airport environment with flexibility and sound judgment.
• Uphold service excellence standards and drive continuous improvement.
• Work collaboratively across airport departments and with external partners.
• The successful candidate must be a city of Philadelphia resident within six months of hire

Nice To Haves

• We value diverse experiences and are open to flexible qualifications. If you are passionate about this role and meet some of the key criteria, we encourage you to apply.

Responsibilities

• Translate PHL’s enterprise strategic plan and brand standards into actionable Guest Experience initiatives across the airport ecosystem.
• Lead the development of a holistic, data-informed Guest Experience strategy that integrates passengers, employees, tenants and partners.
• Serve as a connector across Strategy, Operations, Commercial and external partners to ensure alignment and execution of Guest Experience priorities.
• Serve as a strategic and operational lead point of contact for terminal guest experience, ensuring alignment with enterprise priorities and service standards.
• Drive system-wide consistency and accountability in guest experience through structured stakeholder engagement and performance expectations.
• Develop and manage Guest Experience KPIs (i.e. NPS, sentiment, journey analytics) and translate insights into actionable improvements.
• Partner with Data & Analytics to institutionalize measurement and reporting frameworks across Guest Experience initiatives.
• Support informed, knowledgeable interactions with passengers by developing staff expertise in airport processes and customer service standards.
• Build strong partnerships with airport tenants to ensure consistency in customer service and operational coordination.
• Design and lead enterprise-wide programs that enhance both guest passenger satisfaction and employee engagement.
• Lead initiatives that bring “Philadelphia” into the airport experience, aligning with brand and sense-of-place strategies.
• Lead airport-wide Employee Appreciation programming as part of workforce engagement efforts.
• Develop and support initiatives that center on the experience of airport employees and aviation workers.
• Ensure stakeholders have the tools, training, and information necessary to deliver a high-quality guest experience.
• Collaborate across airport departments to address guest needs, support operational improvements, and elevate the PHL experience.
• Support the Director of Guest Experience with internal and external stakeholders, including the PHL Guest Experience Stakeholder Council, PHL Stakeholder Engagement Committee, partners, and airlines.
• Supervise and support frontline guest experience staff (including Sharron’s team), who serve as the boots-on-the-ground presence across the terminal.
• Oversee bilingual reception and ensure accessible, inclusive guest support services.
• Manage day-to-day relationships with airlines, coordinating closely to support passenger needs and operational alignment.
• Represent Guest Experience in collaborations with internal and external stakeholders, including the PHL Guest Experience Council, PHL Works partners, and airlines.
• Manage the PHL WORKS program as a measurable, scalable service culture program, including digital training, audits and stakeholder adoption.
• Implement measurement strategies that document the effectiveness of all PHL WORKS initiatives by tracking progress, assessing outcomes, and using data to continually make improvements towards more effective and meaningful outcomes.
• Oversee all logistical aspects of PHL WORKS initiatives including scheduling, venue selection, and resource allocation for both onsite and offsite locations.
• Manage the PHL WORKS airport-wide journey audits, logistics, and data dissemination to stakeholders.
• Oversee the contract for PHL WORKS program support.
• Manage and develop KPIs and provide data-driven results for all PHL WORKS initiatives.
• Oversee airport-wide stakeholder engagement and system-wide elements of PHL Works.
• Manage quarterly employee recognition activities to celebrate staff contributions and highlight service excellence.
• All other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Unlimited FREE public transportation all year long through SEPTA’s Key Advantage program.
• 8 weeks of paid parental leave.
• Comprehensive health coverage for employees and their eligible dependents.
• Wellness program offers eligibility into the discounted medical plan.
• Paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays.
• Generous retirement savings options.
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness program eligibility.
• Tuition discounts and scholarships (10% to 40% savings) with over a dozen partner colleges and universities, potentially extending to spouse and dependents.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager