Special Assistance Team Manager

Role overview

Programme management

• Manage Special Assistance Team, Family Assistance, and Critical Incident/Peer Support programmes, including policies, procedures, protocols, and operational guidance.
• Conduct or support audits, compliance reviews, and assessments; ensure findings and corrective actions are addressed and closed.
• Recruit, select, and engage employee volunteers, maintaining sufficient trained team resources.
• Develop initial and recurrent training standards, syllabi, and competency requirements; manage training, assessment, and effectiveness evaluation.

Readiness and incident response

• Assess hub and outstation readiness, identify gaps, and evaluate emergency providers and mutual assistance arrangements with partner airlines.
• Coordinate and evaluate exercises and drills, incorporating lessons into continuous improvement.
• During crises, lead activation, mobilisation, rostering, deployment, and management of team members and contracted response resources, at the Emergency Response Centre or internationally.
• Maintain readiness governance, volunteer and competency records, rosters, equipment, resources, and supporting documentation.
• Improve processes, systems, and tools based on incidents, exercises, audits, and industry developments.

Education and experience

• Degree or diploma preferred, ideally in psychology, aviation management, human factors, safety management, business management, or a related discipline.
• Minimum eight years of aviation industry experience, preferably in an operational environment.
• Experience developing and delivering training programmes is required; digital or online learning development experience is desirable.
• Fluent written and spoken English is required; Arabic is an advantage.

Additional desirable qualifications

• Customer care, emergency planning, and/or crisis management experience is desirable.
• Team leadership experience in high-pressure, sensitive, or crisis-related operational environments is highly desirable.
• Knowledge of aviation emergency response, family assistance, applicable regulations, and international standards is desirable.