Manager, Guest Experience (Operations)

YVR is a place of connection, bringing together people, places, and cargo while ensuring a safe, efficient, and welcoming experience for all. The Passenger Experience team plays a key role in elevating every step of the airport journey to deliver delight, care, and commercial success. We focus on humanizing the travel experience by providing inclusive, people-first service for passengers of all abilities. Through our strong partnership with Musqueam and our commitment to service excellence, we create meaningful moments that not only enhance the journey but also support non-aeronautical revenue growth and reflect YVR’s unique identity as a world-class airport.

Position overview

Are you an experienced leader with a passion for delivering exceptional guest experiences? Do you thrive in a fast-paced environment where collaboration and operational excellence are key? Are you a strategic thinker who can balance efficiency, compliance, and hospitality to create a world-class experience for travellers?

We have a permanent, full-time opportunity for a Manager, Guest Experience (Operations). Reporting to the Director, Guest Experience, the successful candidate is responsible for leading, motivating, coaching and empowering the day-to-day guest experience team, providing oversight of the staff's professional and operational performance. Additionally, the Manager, Guest Experience (Operations) engages and collaborates with various stakeholders on executing operating plans, supporting system demands and ensuring safe, continuous, and efficient terminal operations for YVR, its stakeholders, and customers.

Key responsibilities include:

• Lead and support the Guest Experience team by setting priorities, delivering training and development, conducting annual performance reviews, monitor work performance, and provide ongoing feedback, mentorship, and coaching to foster a culture of continuous improvement and customer focus.
• Collaborate with internal planning teams to provide operational and scheduling feedback to support continuous improvement of operational plans and guest programs, to meet capacity demands, service levels, and KPIs while ensuring team efficiency.
• Ensure readiness for all operational conditions that may interfere with standard operations, including irregular operations, weather disruptions, incidents, or infrastructure and system failures. 
• Lead incident investigations following responses, where required, for due diligence, compliance, or continuous improvement related to guest and operational processes. 
• Provide subject matter expertise on terminal operations, safety, and best practices to support the airport’s mission, vision, and strategies while facilitating the swift resolution of safety and SMS-related issues for YVR and its partners. 
• Act as the escalation point for guest complaints and unresolved issues, developing solutions and delivering high-level customer service to ensure efficient resolution.

Key qualifications include:

• Post-secondary degree in Hospitality, Business Administration, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in frontline operations within a customer/guest experience operational setting. 
• Minimum of 3 years of leadership experience managing a large team, preferably in a unionized environment.
• Strong passion for delivering unforgettable guest experiences, with excellent written and verbal communication skills to engage effectively with diverse stakeholders.
• Proven ability to lead and manage teams, make sound decisions under pressure, and drive a culture of operational excellence and service innovation.
• Strong prioritization, time management, and organizational skills, with proficiency in Microsoft 365 to support efficient operations and collaboration.

Shift work is required as the department operates on a 24-hour, 7 days/week basis.

This position is open to Vancouver Airport Authority employees and external applicants. Previous job performance will be taken into consideration for all internal candidates that apply for this position. As part of our recruitment process, short-listed candidates may be required to participate in an assessment process.

Salary Range : $102,880 to $154,320 per annum, based on 37.5-hour work week. This is individually tailored to reflect your unique experience, qualifications and internal equity. Performance-Based Incentive: Eligible for an annual bonus target at 15% of your annual salary.

At YVR, your work experience goes beyond the paycheck. We support your personal and professional development, well-being, and a thriving work culture with generous vacation days, extensive health benefits, retirement savings matching, wellness programs, community engagement, commuting support, and continuous learning opportunities. Learn more at https://careers.yvr.ca/benefits.

YVR is more than just an airport. We connect our beautiful province and all it has to offer to the world. We are all leaders and trailblazers for change and innovation, so no matter the department or team you’re a part of, the work you do matters.

At YVR, we are flexible in everything we do. We will work together to find ways to deliver customer excellence that helps us all thrive.

Whatever your background and wherever you’re from, you belong at YVR. If you have any questions about accessibility or require any assistance applying, please reach out at careers@yvr.ca.