Sr Manager, Continuous Improvement

Intro

Are you ready to explore a world of possibilities, both at work and during your time off? Join our American Airlines family, and you’ll travel the world, grow your expertise and become the best version of you. As you embark on a new journey, you’ll tackle challenges with flexibility and grace, learning new skills and advancing your career while having the time of your life. Feel free to enrich both your personal and work life and hop on board!

Why you'll love this job

The Sr. Manager, Continuous Improvement plays a key leadership role in shaping how American Airlines delivers reliable, efficient, and customer centric operations across airports and contact centers. Leading a team of process improvement professionals, this role transforms complex operational challenges into streamlined, scalable solutions that directly impact both employee effectiveness and the customer experience.

What you'll do

As noted above, this list is intended to reflect the current job but there may be additional essential functions (and certainly non-essential job functions) that are not referenced.  Management will modify the job or require other tasks be performed whenever it is deemed appropriate to do so, observing, of course, any legal obligations including any collective bargaining obligations.

•    Provide strategic leadership and direction to a team of analysts and a manager focused on continuous improvement across airport and contact center operations.
•    Set the vision, priorities, and roadmap for process improvement initiatives aligned to enterprise goals, operational strategy, and customer experience objectives.
•    Lead multiple, concurrent, and time‑sensitive initiatives from concept through implementation and sustainment, ensuring measurable and sustainable results.
•    Partner cross‑functionally with Airport Operations, Contact Centers, Skyview, Workforce Planning, Technology, and other enterprise teams to design integrated solutions.
•    Drive optimization strategies related to staffing models, facility layouts, workflows, ground time, service recovery, and misconnect performance.
•    Establish standard work, governance, and performance measures to ensure improvements are scalable, repeatable, and aligned with enterprise standards.
•    Influence and gain alignment with leaders at all levels by clearly articulating the “why,” expected outcomes, and operational impacts of change.
•    Champion continuous improvement methodologies (Lean, Six Sigma, data‑driven problem solving) and embed CI thinking into day‑to‑day operations.
•    Develop future leaders by coaching, mentoring, and providing growth opportunities for team members.
•    Monitor performance metrics, assess risks, and proactively adjust strategies to ensure delivery of operational and financial benefits.
•    Travel up to 40% of the time to support airport and contact center engagements, pilots, and implementations.

All you'll need for success

Minimum Qualifications- Education & Prior Job Experience

•      Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering, Business, Operations, or a related field, or equivalent experience/training.
•      7+ years of professional experience in continuous improvement, operations, industrial engineering, or a related field.

Preferred Qualifications- Education & Prior Job Experience

•      Master’s degree (MBA, MS in Industrial Engineering, or related field).
•      4+ years of experience formally or informally leading teams and/or large‑scale process improvement initiatives.

Skills, Licenses & Certifications

• Experience working with and presenting to senior leaders and executive‑level stakeholders.
  •    Strong leadership and organizational skills with the ability to set direction, delegate effectively, and drive results.
  •    Expertise in continuous improvement methodologies (Lean, Six Sigma, process redesign).
  •    Excellent quantitative, analytical, and problem‑solving skills.
  •    Proficiency in Microsoft Office tools, including Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Access, and Power Apps.
  •    Ability to operate independently, manage competing priorities, and thrive in a dynamic, fast‑paced environment.
  •    Exceptional written and verbal communication skills across all levels of the organization.
  •      Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification.
  •      Demonstrated ability to influence decisions and lead through ambiguity.
  •      Experience developing future leaders and building succession pipelines.
  •      Experience leveraging advanced analytics, automation, or AI solutions within operational workflows.

What you'll get

Feel free to take advantage of all that American Airlines has to offer: 

• Travel Perks: Ready to explore the world? You, your family and your friends can reach 365 destinations on more than 6,800 daily flights across our global network.
• Health Benefits: On day one, you’ll have access to your health, dental, prescription and vision benefits to help you stay well. And that’s just the start, we also offer virtual doctor visits, flexible spending accounts and more. 
• Wellness Programs: We want you to be the best version of yourself – that’s why our wellness programs provide you with all the right tools, resources and support you need.
• 401(k) Program: Available upon hire and, depending on the workgroup, employer contributions to your 401(k) program are available after one year.
• Additional Benefits: Other great benefits include our Employee Assistance Program, pet insurance and discounts on hotels, cars, cruises and more

Feel free to be yourself at American

From the team members we hire to the customers we serve, inclusion and diversity are the foundation of the dynamic workforce at American Airlines. Our 20+ Employee Business Resource Groups are focused on connecting our team members to our customers, suppliers, communities and shareholders, helping team members reach their full potential and creating an inclusive work environment to meet and exceed the needs of our diverse world.

Are you ready to feel a tremendous sense of pride and satisfaction as you do your part to keep the largest airline in the world running smoothly as we care for people on life’s journey? Feel free to be yourself at American.