Government Operations Program Manager
Department: Operations
Reports To: Director of Operations
Location: Miami, Florida or Killeen, Texas
Travel: Up to approximately 12 days per month
Employment Type: Full-Time
Position Summary
The Government Operations Project Manager is responsible for supporting the successful planning, execution, performance, and continuous improvement of Global Crossing Airlines' government operations.
Reporting directly to the Director of Operations, this position serves as a key cross-functional operational leader responsible for ensuring government missions are executed safely, reliably, efficiently, and in accordance with contractual requirements, company policies and procedures, and applicable regulatory requirements.
The Government Operations Project Manager will maintain broad visibility across all aspects of government operations and work closely with Flight Operations, Crew Scheduling, Operations Control, Aircraft Routing and Planning, Ground Operations, Technical Operations, Maintenance Control, Stations, vendors, and other internal and external stakeholders.
This position requires a highly proactive and solution-oriented individual capable of identifying operational risks before they affect mission execution, coordinating resources across multiple departments, resolving complex operational challenges, and ensuring commitments to government customers are consistently met.
The successful candidate must be comfortable operating in a dynamic airline environment where priorities can change rapidly and effective execution requires strong communication, sound judgment, accountability, and cross-functional coordination.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Government Operations Oversight
- Provide day-to-day oversight and coordination of government operations and missions.
- Maintain comprehensive situational awareness of current and upcoming government operations, including aircraft availability, crew coverage, maintenance status, ground support, station readiness, vendor support, and other operational dependencies.
- Support the planning, coordination, execution, and post-operation review of government missions.
- Ensure operational requirements and commitments associated with government contracts are understood, communicated, tracked, and appropriately executed.
- Identify potential operational risks, constraints, and resource conflicts and proactively coordinate solutions before they impact mission performance.
- Serve as a central operational point of coordination between departments supporting government operations.
- Travel to operating locations as necessary to provide on-site leadership, oversight, coordination, and problem resolution.
Operational Performance & Mission Reliability
- Monitor government operational performance, reliability, efficiency, and execution.
- Develop and maintain appropriate performance metrics, dashboards, trackers, and reporting for government operations.
- Monitor mission performance including on-time performance, completion reliability, delays, cancellations, operational disruptions, and other applicable contractual or internal performance measures.
- Investigate operational performance deficiencies and coordinate corrective actions with responsible departments.
- Identify recurring operational issues, trends, and systemic weaknesses and develop recommendations for improvement.
- Conduct operational reviews and post-mission assessments when appropriate.
- Provide regular performance updates, risk assessments, and recommendations to the Director of Operations and other senior leaders.
Contractual & Customer Requirements
- Develop a working understanding of applicable government contracts, performance requirements, operational specifications, and customer expectations.
- Monitor operational compliance with applicable contractual requirements and identify potential gaps or risks.
- Coordinate with internal stakeholders to resolve issues that may affect contractual performance.
- Assist with operational responses, corrective action plans, performance reviews, and customer inquiries as required.
- Support the implementation of new or modified government programs and contractual requirements.
Irregular Operations & Problem Resolution
- Provide leadership and coordination during operational disruptions affecting government missions.
- Assist the OCC and applicable operational departments with identifying recovery options and removing barriers to execution.
- Escalate significant operational risks or issues to the Director of Operations and appropriate leadership when necessary.
- Coordinate follow-up activities following significant disruptions to ensure root causes and corrective actions are appropriately addressed.
- Maintain a strong sense of urgency while balancing safety, regulatory compliance, contractual requirements, operational reliability, and cost considerations.
Leadership Expectations
The Government Operations Project Manager is expected to:
- Operate with a high degree of ownership and accountability.
- Anticipate problems rather than waiting for operational failures to occur.
- Develop solutions and recommendations when escalating issues.
- Build productive working relationships across departments while maintaining appropriate accountability.
- Communicate clearly and effectively with frontline employees, department leaders, senior executives, customers, and vendors.
- Remain calm, organized, and decisive during time-sensitive or high-pressure operational situations.
- Understand the distinction between coordinating operational execution and exercising regulatory authority assigned to certificated or otherwise designated personnel.
- Represent the Director of Operations and the company professionally while visiting operating locations or interacting with customers and external partners.
- Maintain appropriate confidentiality and discretion regarding government operations, contractual information, company information, and operational matters.
Qualifications
Required
- Bachelor's degree in Aviation, Business Administration, Operations Management, Project Management, Logistics, or a related field; equivalent relevant professional experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
- Demonstrated experience in airline operations, aviation, military/government operations, logistics, transportation, or another complex operational environment.
- Strong project management and cross-functional coordination skills.
- Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities and projects simultaneously.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Ability to interpret operational data, identify trends, and translate findings into actionable recommendations.
- Ability to work effectively with employees and leaders across multiple functional areas.
- Ability to travel up to approximately 12 days per month, including occasional short-notice travel when operationally necessary.
- Ability to work outside traditional business hours when required to support operational events or significant disruptions.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications including Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, and related business applications.
Preferred
- Experience in Part 121 airline operations.
- Experience supporting government, military, Department of Defense, or other public-sector aviation operations.
- Experience with charter, ACMI, supplemental, or complex mission-based airline operations.
- Familiarity with airline Operations Control Center functions, including dispatch, crew scheduling, maintenance control, aircraft routing, and irregular-operations recovery.
- Experience managing contractual performance requirements or service-level agreements.
- Experience with operational performance analysis, root-cause analysis, and corrective action programs.
- Project Management Professional (PMP) certification or similar project management training is a plus.
Travel & Work Environment
This position will be based in Miami, Florida or Killeen, Texas and will require regular travel to support government operations, operating locations, customer requirements, and company initiatives.
Travel may be required for up to approximately 12 days per month and may occasionally occur on short notice based on operational requirements.
The position may also require availability outside normal business hours during significant government missions, irregular operations, launches, or other operational events.
Additional Responsibilities
The responsibilities described above are intended to represent the primary functions of the position and are not intended to constitute an exhaustive list. The Government Operations Project Manager may be assigned additional responsibilities, projects, operational initiatives, or duties by the Director of Operations based on the evolving needs of the company and its government operations.
