Description This role provides strategic leadership, ownership, and execution of United's Safety Management System (SMS), ensuring compliance with 14 CFR Part 5 while advancing SMS maturity, safety risk management, safety assurance, safety promotion, and data-driven decision-making across the airline.
Key Responsibilities - Provide enterprise oversight of United's SMS and ensure compliance with 14 CFR Part 5, ICAO Annex 19, and applicable safety requirements.
- Serve as a strategic SMS advisor to Corporate Safety and operational leaders on safety risk management, safety assurance, safety promotion, governance, and management of change.
- Establish and strengthen enterprise approaches for safety risk assessments, hazard identification, risk controls, and monitoring of safety performance.
- Translate safety data, operational information, and emerging risks into actionable insights that support executive decision-making.
- Advance the responsible use of data, analytics, automation, and artificial intelligence to improve hazard identification, risk monitoring, safety assurance, and organizational learning.
- Partner across operational, technology, data, and enterprise functions to strengthen the quality, accessibility, governance, and effective use of safety information.
- Provide strategic leadership for Safety Action Teams, Safety Round Tables, the Integrated Safety Round Table, Corporate Safety Review Board, and other SMS governance forums.
- Serve as a lead SMS subject matter expert for regulatory, internal, and external audits and assessments.
- Support SMS training, education, promotion, and organizational capability-building strategies that strengthen safety culture and employee engagement.
- Support the continued evolution of United's digital safety capabilities, including safety platforms, workflows, data integration, analytics, and modernization of legacy processes and systems.
- Monitor emerging safety practices, technologies, regulations, and industry developments and identify opportunities to continually strengthen United's SMS.
- Serve as a key liaison with the FAA Certificate Management Office (CMO), maintaining a strong, trusted relationship and representing United on significant SMS, safety risk, regulatory, and oversight matters.
Qualifications Minimum Qualifications - Bachelor's degree in aviation, safety, engineering, business, technology, data/analytics, or a related discipline, or equivalent professional experience.
- 5+ years of relevant aviation, safety, operational risk, technology, or related experience.
- Applied knowledge of Safety Management Systems and Safety Risk Management.
- Working knowledge of applicable aviation safety regulations, standards, and practices.
- Demonstrated ability to lead complex, cross-functional initiatives and organizational change.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to translate complex information into actionable recommendations.
- Strong executive communication, facilitation, written, and presentation skills.
- Experience using data, analytics, digital platforms, or technology to improve processes and decision-making.
- Ability to influence and collaborate effectively across organizational boundaries.
- General understanding of generative AI capabilities and limitations and the responsible use of AI, including data privacy, security, governance, and human oversight.
- Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, multi-priority environment.
- Must be legally authorized to work in the United States for any employer without sponsorship.
- Reliable, punctual attendance is an essential function of the position.
Preferred Qualifications - Master's degree or MBA.
- Advanced aviation safety or enterprise SMS experience.
- Experience leading enterprise safety, technology, data, or business transformation initiatives.
- Experience with enterprise safety management platforms, digital workflows, data integration, or system modernization.
- Experience with safety analytics, business intelligence, artificial intelligence, or emerging-risk identification.
- Familiarity with enterprise risk management, operational resilience, or integrated risk frameworks.
- PMP or other relevant program, risk, safety, data, or change-management certification.
- Demonstrates an understanding of the capabilities and limitations of generative AI tools and effectively leverages them to support research, analysis, content creation, and problem-solving. Apply critical thinking to validate AI-generated outputs while adhering to organizational policies for responsible AI use, data privacy, and security.
