Director Transportation Operations Excellence

About the Company

Since 1942, SkyChefs has been a leader in culinary excellence, delivering millions of meals and superior services annually to top airlines and retailers at 43 sites across the United States. With a heritage rooted in operational excellence, culinary skill, and innovation, SkyChefs sets industry benchmarks in aviation culinary, airline services, last-mile logistics, and retail commerce. Its teams collaborate to ensure quality, dependability, and outstanding service from kitchen to runway. The organization values its people as the core of its operations and offers career growth opportunities in a fast-paced, team-centric atmosphere.

Role Purpose

The Director of Transportation Operations Excellence plays a pivotal role in shaping the future of aviation catering operations across North America. This strategic leadership position focuses on the transformation, standardization, and optimization of transportation operations within the U.S. airline catering network. The role requires collaboration with executive leadership and field teams to achieve world-class performance, prioritizing safety, reliability, and innovation.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead transportation strategy and network excellence as the region’s subject matter expert for airline catering transportation and airside logistics.
• Develop and implement transportation standards, procedures, and best practices across all sites.
• Collaborate with senior leadership to shape strategy, enhance performance, and support growth initiatives.
• Benchmark transportation operations against top aviation, logistics, and ground handling organizations.
• Drive excellence in network operations by ensuring on-time departures, safety compliance, and service reliability.
• Identify and act on opportunities for improved routing efficiency, vehicle use, labor productivity, and operational reliability.
• Lead initiatives targeting cost reduction, process standardization, and consistent execution.
• Prepare contingency and response plans for adverse events including weather disruptions and irregular operations.
• Manage transportation performance tracking, KPI creation, dashboard oversight, and analytics.
• Act as transportation systems lead, overseeing tools such as Groundstar and Forms.
• Work with Continuous Improvement and Technology teams to introduce innovative solutions, automation, and predictive analytics.
• Leverage data insights to enhance decision-making and network effectiveness.
• Coordinate with operations, culinary, commercial teams, airport stakeholders, and clients to align transportation actions with business goals.
• Support new station setups, operational expansions, and customer launches.
• Lead cross-functional problem-solving and act as the escalation contact for complex transportation issues.
• Mentor and develop transportation directors and managers network-wide.
• Oversee onboarding and professional development programs for transportation leadership.
• Cultivate a culture focused on safety, accountability, customer service, operational excellence, and continuous improvement.
• Drive the growth of future transportation leaders within the organization.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Transportation, Logistics, Aviation Management, Supply Chain, Business, or related discipline; equivalent work experience considered.
• Minimum 8 years in progressive leadership roles within airline catering transportation, aircraft ground handling, airport or airline operations, aviation logistics, or transportation network management.
• Experienced managing operations at multi-site, regional, or network scales.
• In-depth knowledge of airside operations, airport environments, and aviation safety protocols.
• Proven ability to lead operational excellence, implement process improvements, and optimize costs.
• Familiar with transportation operational systems, performance analytics, and dashboard utilization.
• Willingness to travel domestically up to 70% of the time.
• Preferred: Experience with large-scale aviation or transportation networks, Lean, Six Sigma, Continuous Improvement, or Operational Excellence methodologies.
• Proven record in leading organizational change and standardization projects.
• Preference for candidates based in or able to relocate to the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Additional Information

This leadership position offers a hybrid work setting with multiple possible U.S. locations and requires substantial domestic travel. SkyChefs upholds equal opportunity employment practices, welcoming women, minorities, veterans, and individuals with disabilities.