Sr Manager - Airport Commercial Contracts

Frontier Airlines • Denver, CO

6h • $123,462 - $163,873 • Hybrid

About The Position

The Airport Commercial Contracts team is an important and impactful department within the airline that is a key enabler of the airline’s reliable daily operation and customer experience at over 100 airports throughout North America, Central America and the Caribbean. This team is the commercial relationship and contract owner for all the airline’s ground handling and airport services business partners such as Menzies, Swissport and Unifi. The team is charged with managing and adapting the airline’s ground handling footprint as the network grows and evolves, leading negotiations with and managing performance of all airport services business partners.
This Senior Manager position will lead the Airport Commercial Contracts vertical within the broader Strategic Sourcing – Fleet and Operations organization. You will lead a team of managers and analysts with responsibility over all airport services disciplines and contracts to evaluate long-range business needs against the current setup, propose, model and negotiate contract modifications, lead or contribute to RFPs, track supplier performance, maintain and validate staffing models and standards, and resolve commercial / contract issues. This position builds and maintains relationships with internal stakeholders as part of a matrixed organization and represents the airline externally in interactions and negotiations with some of the airline’s largest and most critical suppliers.
This role is considered a subject matter expert on the airline’s airport operations contracts. This position combines commercial negotiation, long-range planning and strategy, financial analysis, and relationship and contract management activities. This position will also have exposure to real-time operational events and take a leading role in mitigation and problem solving.
As a senior member of the team, the position will interact frequently with senior Frontier executives including departmental VPs/SVPs and the CFO. It will also be responsible for managing and developing junior team members.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, business, mathematics, statistics or a related field
• 7+ years of experience performing contracts, finance or airport services functions, OR experience in other roles with transferrable skills such as management consulting or finance
• At least 3 years of experience in a supervisory or managerial capacity leading cross-functional teams in a corporate environment
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel including advanced modelling capabilities
• Ability to build trust with internal and external counterparties
• Strong influence and negotiating skills
• Experience evaluating, executing, and managing contracts with outside parties
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills including exposure to senior executives and external audiences
• Proactive, able to manage multiple workstreams in a fast-paced environment and adapt to evolving business needs
• Proven leadership skills with the ability to train, develop and manage in an efficient, productive, and respectful manner

Nice To Haves

• Understanding of airline operations and supplier ecosystem (Tech Ops, Ground Ops, Maintenance etc.) strongly preferred

Responsibilities

• Serve as the commercial owner and focal point for the airport services and ground handling business partner portfolio
• Lead negotiations, contract amendments and resolve performance matters and other issues driving a high performance supplier base
• Serve as a subject matter expert maintaining in-depth knowledge of major airport ops agreements including economics, rights and responsibilities of the parties and service levels
• Proactively analyze and manage “what if” scenario impacts on these major agreements (e.g. changes to the airline’s fleet or operating footprint), in close cooperation with operating teams and FP&A
• Build and maintain relationships with supplier personnel
• Build and maintain relationships with key internal stakeholders
• Own and direct the financial analysis supporting contracting decisions, either during RFP processes or to support ongoing management of or amendments to existing relationships
• Partner with FP&A to align transaction economics to the long-range business forecast and financial planning objectives
• Validate station staffing across the network and monitor adherence to the airline’s standards and performance guidelines
• Provide clear recommendations to the Director and the internal operating teams
• Frequent reporting and presentations to senior management; responsible for producing Board-level presentations and communications with little oversight
• Attend industry-related conferences
• Ad-hoc financial analysis and corporate-finance related projects
• Participate in and contribute to budget process

Benefits

• Flight benefits for you and your family to fly on Frontier Airlines.
• Buddy passes for your friends so they can experience what makes us so great.
• Discounts throughout the travel industry on hotels, car rentals, cruises and vacation packages.
• Discounts on cell phone plans, movie tickets, restaurants, luggage and over 2,000 other vendors.
• Enjoy a ‘Dress for your Day’ business casual environment.
• Flexible work schedules that support work/life balance.
• Total Rewards program including a competitive base salary, short term incentives, long-term incentives, paid holidays, 401(k) plan, vacation/sick time and medical/dental/vision insurance that begins the 1st of the month following your hire date.
• The HOPE League, Frontier Airlines’ non-profit organization, is dedicated to providing employees financial assistance during catastrophic hardship.

What This Job Offers

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