To lead and coordinate the delivery of safe, efficient, and customer-focused airside operations and ground handling activities by driving continuous improvement, fostering strong stakeholder collaboration, and ensuring operational alignment with strategic airport initiatives. This role champions performance excellence, safety culture, and operational readiness across ramp, airfield, and seasonal activities.
In addition to ensuring day-to-day operational integrity, this role is designed to provide strategic leadership in driving performance excellence across ground handling, ramp and airfield operations. This role will be responsible for owning the end to end ground handling operation and will act as a central performance integrator, ensuring that operational decisions are aligned with long-term strategic goals and stakeholder expectations.
Operational Leadership
- Lead and coordinate operational efficiency initiatives to improve ramp performance and stakeholder behaviours.
- Own the relationship with the ground handlers
- Maintain a strong relationship with the ground handlers and regulatory authorities.
- Ensure close collaboration with key internal DAP teams to ensure a unified, cross functional approach to managing airline and ground handler activities and relationships.
- Work closely with Airport Logistics and Commercial Property teams to ensure operational compatibility with logistics and property strategies.
- Lead regular stakeholder forums with measurable performance controls.
- Represent GH service providers during planning, consultation, and handover stages of airside projects.
- Ensure shift teams are informed of GH procedures, policies, and performance expectations.
- Act as point of escalation for unresolved GHA issues at shift level, across the end-to-end operation.
- Support onboarding of new GH service partners and apron/ramp interfaces.
- Point of contact for IAA Licencing division and ground Ops division for all regulatory matters involving ground handling
- Responsible for gathering annual statistical returns from all GH licence holders for submission to IAA in line with regulations
Ramp Performance
- Lead continuous improvement initiatives and ensure processes and procedures are fit for purpose.
- End-to-end management of ground handling operations, with ultimate responsibility for airside performance and oversight of terminal GH matters.
- Ensure day-to-day airside ground operations are safe, consistent, efficient, and customer focused.
- Maintain a fit for purpose GSE/equipment policy in collaboration with stakeholders.
- Manage GSE parking and charging infrastructure queries.
- Work with Airside Operations Technical and Asset Management teams to resolve infrastructure challenges.
- Ensure the impound process is efficient and fit for purpose.
Airfield Performance
- Drive initiatives to optimise aircraft movement coordination between runways, taxiways, and stand access/egress, with stand planning management out of scope.
- Track and report on Airside KPI’s identifying trends and root causes of inefficiencies.
- Drive continuous improvement in aircraft turnaround processes, working closely with stakeholders.
- Facilitate regular performance reviews with key partners.
Safety
- Collaborate with the DAP Safety team to promote a strong safety culture.
- Ensure safety is embedded in both routine and exceptional operations.
- Maintain and communicate Rules of Conduct documents related to GH activities.
Seasonal & Emergency Support
Participate in the Apron Winter Response Team on an on-call basis during winter months.
- 5 years management experience in a similar role
- Strong understanding of the Aviation Regulatory Framework as applicable to airports
- Strong and proven Team Leader skills are required
- Effective stakeholder management skills
- Methodical, analytical, and focused approach to work procedures
- Experience of operating within a target driven and customer-focused, performance, compliant environment.
- Verbal and written communication
- Pro-active and results driven
- Analysis and problem-solving skills
- Strong knowledge of Dublin Airport
Committed to daa Values