Business Solutions Manager - Guest Experience

Role Overview

Business Solutions Manager - Guest Experience at Etihad Airways, based in Abu Dhabi.

Company Overview

Etihad Airways is the UAE's national airline, connecting people across continents and cultures from its Abu Dhabi hub. The organization is executing a "Journey 2030" ambition to double its fleet, expand its network, and grow its people for a new era of excellence.

Role Purpose

Lead and oversee critical Customer Care support functions to enable operational excellence. This strategic leadership role focuses on governance, continuous improvement, and empowering team leads and vendor partners to manage day-to-day operations while driving efficiency, enhancing customer experience, optimizing costs, and ensuring successful delivery of business objectives.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Governance

• Provide strategic direction, governance, and oversight across Customer Care support functions, ensuring alignment with business objectives, performance standards, and customer experience goals.
• Define, implement, and continuously enhance the operating model, policies, and processes supporting the function.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement.

Financial & Commercial Management

• Own planning, forecasting, and management of departmental budgets, ensuring cost-effective resource allocation and optimal return on investment.
• Ensure strong financial controls, procurement compliance, and audit readiness across internal functions and vendor contracts.
• Monitor commercial performance and identify opportunities to improve efficiency and reduce cost-to-serve.

Workforce Planning & Performance Analytics

• Lead workforce planning, forecasting, and scheduling activities across internal teams and outsourced partners to achieve service level and quality commitments.
• Establish and oversee a robust Management Information Systems (MIS) and analytics framework, delivering meaningful insights through executive dashboards and standardized reporting.
• Utilize data-driven decision-making to improve operational performance and customer outcomes.

Quality, Training & Knowledge Management

• Own and evolve the end-to-end Quality Assurance framework to ensure service excellence and consistent customer experiences.
• Develop and execute training strategies, including induction, capability development, and refresher programs.
• Govern the organization's knowledge management framework, ensuring a single source of truth through effective content ownership, accuracy controls, and change management.

Business Improvement & Customer Experience

• Lead continuous improvement initiatives across processes, policies, systems, and digital channels, leveraging business intelligence and customer feedback.
• Own the Customer Care Net Promoter Score (NPS) improvement roadmap, implementing targeted initiatives and measuring impact through performance analytics.
• Identify emerging trends, risks, and opportunities to enhance customer satisfaction and operational effectiveness.

Vendor & Stakeholder Management

• Manage strategic relationships with global contact centre partners and service providers, including contract management, commercial negotiations, performance governance, and change implementation.
• Serve as a senior liaison between Operations, Digital & IT, HR, Finance, Procurement, and external stakeholders to drive alignment and successful delivery of business priorities.
• Proactively identify operational, commercial, and compliance risks and implement effective mitigation strategies.

People Leadership

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of senior professionals and quality specialists, fostering high performance and professional growth.
• Set clear objectives, monitor team performance, and promote a culture of engagement, collaboration, and continuous learning.
• Enable strategic focus by delegating operational responsibilities while maintaining oversight of key outcomes and performance measures.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Management, Aviation, Engineering, or a related discipline.
• 5-8 years of experience in business solutions, business analysis, product management, process improvement, customer operations, or a similar field.
• Prior experience within the airline, aviation, contact centre, customer service, or service-oriented industry is highly desirable.
• Demonstrated ability to structure complex business problems, manage multiple priorities, and deliver successful outcomes in cross-functional environments.
• Strong knowledge of business requirements gathering, process mapping, workflow design, and operational improvement methodologies.
• Proficiency in data analysis, reporting, and translating insights into actionable business recommendations.
• Experience in customer journey mapping, service design, customer experience (CX), or user experience (UX) initiatives.
• Familiarity with Agile delivery methodologies, Lean Six Sigma principles, continuous improvement frameworks, or product management practices.

Skills & Competencies

• Excellent stakeholder management, communication, and influencing skills, with the ability to engage effectively across all organizational levels.
• Strong commercial acumen, analytical thinking, and problem-solving capabilities.

Additional Information

This role provides an opportunity to shape the future of Customer Care support functions, drive meaningful business improvements, and deliver exceptional customer experiences through strategic leadership, innovation, and operational excellence.