Business Operations Digital Transformation Senior Manager

Role Overview

The primary responsibility of this position is leading and implementing the digital transformation strategy at Saudi Ground Services (SGS), closely aligned with the company's overarching digital airport objectives. This role serves as a critical link between executive goals and operational execution by harmonizing technology, workflows, and personnel to achieve quantifiable improvements.

Strategic Responsibilities

• Translate CEO and executive directives into a detailed digital roadmap aligned with SGS's Digital Airport strategy.
• Design future digital processes for ground handling operations, including turnaround, baggage handling, service capture/billing, rostering, and mobile workforce management.
• Establish measurable targets such as on-time delivery rates, user adoption percentages, SLA enhancements, reductions in turnaround time, cost efficiencies, productivity improvements, and return on investment.
• Formulate and oversee vendor strategies by choosing and supervising technology partners, enforcing statements of work (SOWs), SLAs, and performance metrics to accelerate implementation.
• Manage financial and human resources for digital transformation projects by recommending budgets, optimizing expenditure, and procuring vital internal and external expertise to minimize delivery risks.

Operational Duties

• Implement a lightweight project management office (PMO) framework for digital transformation initiatives, covering stages like gate reviews, risk and issue handling, RAID logs, and benefit tracking to ensure timely and cost-efficient delivery.
• Maintain alignment with enterprise architecture by standardizing system integrations, APIs, and data management among platforms such as Inform, EPG, SAP, DCS, WakeCap, IoT, AI/RPA.
• Facilitate collaboration across operations, HR, finance, commercial departments, tech services, and airline partners to ensure smooth execution.
• Champion change management by endorsing structured communication and training programs to promote adoption at station levels and cultivate a digital-first mindset.
• Oversee the full lifecycle of airport digital projects from conception through design, development, testing, deployment, and hyper-care phases to ensure seamless completion.
• Supervise systems integration efforts involving Inform, EPG, SAP, DCS, WakeCap/IoT, mobility apps, and analytics platforms to safeguard real-time data integrity.
• Conduct weekly executive meetings to address dependencies, resolve issues, and escalate delays with defined ownership and deadlines.
• Apply rigorous delivery standards including criteria for definition of done, comprehensive testing, user acceptance testing sign-off, cybersecurity enhancements, and operational readiness prior to launch.
• Create dashboards monitoring turnaround performance, baggage operations, resource utilization, and billing precision, leveraging insights for process enhancements.
• Develop and provide standard operating procedures, administrative manuals, disaster recovery/business continuity plans, and support models to guarantee smooth operational transitions.
• Evaluate post-launch performance regarding efficiency, SLA adherence, cost management, and customer experience compared to business case expectations, initiating corrective actions when necessary.
• Ensure compliance with NCA, SDAIA, and GACA frameworks by passing security audits and maintaining audit-ready documentation.
• Document lessons learned after each release and manage an enhancement backlog to enable rapid iteration and continuous improvement.

People Management

• Supervise outsourced delivery teams by defining clear performance standards, ensuring adherence to SGS policies, and maintaining accountability for SLAs and KPIs.
• Promote effective collaboration and knowledge transfer between internal employees and external vendors for uninterrupted operations.
• Manage the onboarding, training, and daily performance of vendor-managed personnel to uphold service quality and cultural cohesion.

Qualifications & Experience

• A bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Technology, or a related field is required.
• An MBA qualification is advantageous but not mandatory.
• A minimum of 10 years of relevant experience in digital or operations transformation, with at least 5 years in a managerial capacity, is essential.