Senior Manager CARE Workforce Mgmt Strategy

Southwest Airlines • Dallas, TX

2d • Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Manager CARE Workforce Management Strategy leads the end-to-end workforce management strategy for Southwest Customer CARE across voice, digital, and back-office operations. The role oversees forecasting, capacity planning, scheduling, intraday operations, and vendor workforce performance, translating business plans and demand insights into workforce investments, staffing scenarios, technology roadmaps, budgets, and executive recommendations. It also advances workforce management through forecasting, automation, and AI-enabled capabilities, while developing leaders and building a team recognized as trusted experts.

The position partners with leaders across Operations, Finance, People Operations, Technology, Vendor Management, and Strategy. Its work supports dependable service for customers, employee schedules, operational readiness, productivity, and Southwest’s long-term financial health. The role is based at Southwest’s Dallas, Texas Headquarters and is required to work there during business hours.

Requirements

• High School Diploma or GED.
• Demonstrated experience directly or indirectly leading teams.
• Broad knowledge of leading workforce management functions across forecasting, capacity planning, scheduling, intraday operations, and vendor-supported operations in a multi-channel customer or contact center environment.
• Broad knowledge of developing long-range workforce strategies, labor forecasts, staffing and capacity models, workforce budgets, productivity strategies, and planning scenarios that support business and financial objectives.
• Broad knowledge of leading workforce readiness and response for disruptions, demand fluctuations, new products, digital capabilities, and high-volume operating events.
• Broad knowledge of advancing workforce management technology capabilities, including AI-enabled forecasting, automation, predictive analytics, digital demand planning, business requirements, operating controls, performance measures, and cross-functional adoption.
• Knowledge of strategic workforce management, long-range business planning, operating models, governance, forecasting, capacity planning, scheduling, intraday operations, and vendor workforce operations.
• Knowledge of workforce financial planning, labor budgeting, staffing economics, productivity, cost-to-serve, capacity modeling, and evaluation of service, cost, and investment tradeoffs.
• Knowledge of customer or contact center operations, including multi-channel demand, vendor-supported operations, service-level performance, staffing requirements, disruption response, and customer and employee experience considerations.
• Knowledge of advanced forecasting methods, predictive analytics, AI-enabled forecasting, automation, workforce management technology and tools, routing capabilities, data governance, and enterprise reporting environments.
• Skill in converting business strategies and financial objectives into long-range workforce requirements, capacity plans, labor assumptions, scenarios, and actionable recommendations.
• Skill in analyzing workforce, operational, vendor, customer, technology, and financial data to identify trends, quantify risks and tradeoffs, test scenarios, and recommend actions.
• Skill in defining business requirements, use cases, governance, adoption measures, and performance expectations for AI-enabled and automated workforce management capabilities.
• Skill in translating complex workforce strategies, scenarios, risks, and technology opportunities into executive-level narratives, presentations, and recommendations.
• Ability to lead, coach, develop, and engage leaders and team members; set strategic priorities; allocate resources; and create accountability for team and business results.
• Ability to build trusted partnerships, influence decisions, advise senior leaders, and align stakeholders across the Enterprise.
• Experience with Tableau/Power BI reporting, call routing, Future Skill, SQL, and/or Python.
• Must be a U.S. citizen or authorized to work in the United States; no current or future work authorization sponsorship is available.
• Must be at least 18 years of age.
• Must be able to comply with Company attendance standards.
• Must maintain a well-groomed appearance per Company appearance standards.
• Ability to perform work duties from a limited-space workstation, desk, or office area for extended periods.
• Ability to communicate and interact with others in English to meet job demands.
• Ability to use a computer and other office productivity tools with sufficient speed and accuracy.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with Aspect for forecasting and workload management.
• Experience with AWS Cloud supporting call routing.
• Experience with call containment analytics and forecasting.
• Experience operating in a labor-represented environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead Department Workforce Management strategy, including long-range workforce, capacity, productivity, operating model, and capability plans aligned with organizational priorities, customer commitments, growth objectives, and financial goals.
• Translate business plans and demand outlooks into labor requirements, capacity strategies, staffing scenarios, workforce investments, and budget inputs.
• Establish planning frameworks, governance, assumptions, performance measures, and decision routines that connect business planning, forecasting, capacity planning, scheduling, intraday operations, and vendor workforce execution.
• Direct demand forecasting and capacity modeling across voice, digital, and back-office operations, evaluating demand, productivity, workforce assumptions, and capacity risks.
• Lead intraday workforce management operations across internal and vendor-supported customer operations, monitoring service levels, staffing coverage, schedule adherence, productivity, forecast variance, capacity utilization, and recovery performance.
• Provide strategic oversight of vendor workforce management through scorecards, governance routines, operational reviews, risk identification, and corrective actions with Vendor Management and operational leaders.
• Lead workforce readiness for disruptions, high-volume events, new products, digital capabilities, business initiatives, and demand shifts by ensuring contingency plans, staffing strategies, vendor capacity options, and recovery plans are developed.
• Establish the workforce management technology, automation, AI, and forecasting strategy, including platform evaluation, implementation oversight, governance, adoption monitoring, and measurement of business outcomes.
• Translate workforce, operational, customer, vendor, technology, and financial information into executive recommendations about service, capacity, productivity, business risk, investment priorities, and financial performance.
• Lead strategic initiatives and continuous improvement efforts to achieve business objectives.
• Recruit, lead, coach, develop, and retain workforce management leaders and team members, building strategic planning, analytical, technology, AI, and business partnership capabilities.
• Guide and lead team members using Southwest talent management practices to coach, develop, and engage employees.
• Adhere to Company values and competencies to foster inclusion, recognition, support, and a safe work environment.
• Participate in continuous learning and development to invest in leadership and self-growth.
• May perform other job duties as directed by the Employee’s Leaders.

Benefits

• Free travel on any open seat on Southwest flights for the employee and eligible dependents.
• Retirement Savings Plan with a dollar-for-dollar 401(k) Company match contribution of up to 9.3% of eligible earnings, subject to plan terms and position eligibility.
• Potential annual profit-sharing contribution to the Southwest Retirement Savings Plan, subject to Company discretion and plan terms.
• Competitive health insurance for the employee and eligible dependents, with health plan options starting on the first day of employment.
• Competitive market salary of $160,550 to $178,400 per year, depending on qualifications and experience.
• Potential additional bonus opportunities for eligible leadership and individual contributor roles, awarded at the Company’s discretion.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: High school or GED