Managing Director, Integrated Operations

About the role

The Managing Director, Integrated Operations (0943 Manager VIII) is a permanent exempt position at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). The role is excluded from the competitive Civil Service examination process and serves at the discretion of the Appointing Officer.

Role description

• Appointment Type: Permanent Exempt, Category 14

• The Integrated Operations Division is the operational core of SFO, responsible for ensuring the Airport moves safely, securely, and with unwavering consistency every hour of every day. It is where real-time decisions are made, where crises are managed, and where the safety and security of the traveling public is protected. Leading this division requires executive depth, operational command, and the judgment to act decisively under pressure.

• SFO is seeking an exceptional senior executive to serve as its Managing Director, Integrated Operations, one of the most consequential operational leadership roles at the Airport. Reporting directly to the Chief Operating Officer, this leader holds strategic and operational accountability for SFO’s safety, security, airfield operations, and emergency management functions, while providing senior executive oversight of the Airport Integrated Operations Center.

• This is a role for a proven leader who brings both strategic vision and deep operational credibility: someone who thrives in complexity, builds enduring partnerships with federal agencies and industry stakeholders, and elevates the performance of every team they lead. With a $65 million annual portfolio and more than 250 dedicated professionals across the division, the Managing Director, Integrated Operations defines what it means for SFO to operate at the highest standard of safety, security, and business continuity for every passenger, every flight, every day.

Essential functions

• Operational Strategy and Enterprise Leadership

• Establishes and advances a cohesive division-wide strategy aligned with SFO’s enterprise goals, translating the COO’s vision into clear priorities, measurable outcomes, and accountable leadership at every level

• Cultivates a performance culture grounded in safety, mission-readiness, continuous improvement, and a shared sense of purpose across a 24/7/365 operational enterprise

• Led organizational design and strategic resource allocation across a $65 million portfolio, ensuring investments are purposeful, outcomes are measurable, and the division’s capacity grows with SFO’s ambitions

• Drives enterprise-wide advances in operational systems, technology integration, and interdivisional coordination, raising the ceiling on what integrated airport operations can achieve

• Serves as a trusted advisor to the COO and Airport Director, offering clear-eyed analysis of emerging risks, strategic opportunities, and the operational realities that shape SFO’s future

• Airport Integrated Operations Center

• Provides senior executive oversight of the AIOC, ensuring the Center operates as SFO’s primary hub for situational awareness, operational coordination, and incident management across all Airport functions and partner agencies

• Sets the strategic framework for AIOC performance, including inter-agency coordination protocols, escalation authorities, and standards for information sharing and operational decision-making

• Champions sustained investment in AIOC technology, data infrastructure, and operational systems, ensuring the Center remains at the leading edge of aviation operations management

• Ensures the AIOC functions as the connective tissue between SFO’s operational divisions, airline and concessionaire partners, federal agencies, and the City’s emergency management architecture

• Oversees the design and execution of joint operational exercises and full-scale drills that rigorously test SFO’s coordinated response capabilities and sharpen the Airport’s collective readiness

• Safety, Security, and Emergency Management

• Sets the strategic direction for SFO’s comprehensive safety, security, and emergency management enterprise, ensuring programs are forward-looking, threat-aware, and compliant with FAA, TSA, CBP, and OSHA requirements

• Holds executive accountability for the Airport Security Program (ASP) and the Airport Emergency Plan (AEP), ensuring both are operationally current, regularly exercised, and reflective of the evolving threat landscape

• Cultivates high-trust, high-performance partnerships with the San Francisco Police Department, TSA, FBI, CBP, and other federal, state, and local law enforcement and regulatory stakeholders

• Directs SFO’s enterprise approach to access control, perimeter integrity, surveillance systems, and physical security infrastructure, continuously raising the standard for campus-wide protection

• Leads the organizational response to significant security incidents, providing command clarity, guiding inter-agency coordination, and ensuring rigorous after-action review drives lasting improvement

• Serves in executive command authority within SFO’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) structure, coordinating with the City’s Department of Emergency Management, regional mutual aid partners, and federal emergency management agencies

• Leads crisis communications strategy and public information coordination during emergency activations, partnering with the Airport Director and SFO Communications to ensure consistent, credible, and transparent public messaging

• Builds and sustains a culture of safety excellence and commitment to business continuity, ensuring every member of the division understands their role in protecting the Airport and the people it serves

• Airfield Operations

• Provides executive oversight of SFO’s airfield operation, encompassing FAR Part 139 certification compliance, runway and taxiway safety management, and execution of the Wildlife Hazard Management Program

• Ensures the airfield operations team maintains an unwavering standard of safety and regulatory compliance in coordination with the FAA, airline partners, and ground service providers

• Directs management of airfield construction impacts, temporary operating procedures, and NOTAM coordination, protecting safety and minimizing operational disruption through periods of significant infrastructure activity

• Provides executive direction for real-time response to weather events, airspace management challenges, and operational disruptions in close coordination with the AIOC and airline stakeholders

• Administration and Resource Stewardship

• Holds executive accountability for the development, oversight, and stewardship of the division’s $65 million annual budget, ensuring resources are allocated strategically, expenditures are managed with rigor, and financial performance is reported with transparency to the COO and Airport Commission

• Directs division-wide workforce planning and talent strategy, ensuring the Integrated Operations team has the depth, capability, and succession strength to meet SFO’s present and future operational demands

• Oversees the design and execution of training programs across the division, ensuring every team is prepared, certified, and continuously developing the skills that operational excellence requires

• Provides executive direction for the division’s contract portfolio, ensuring procurements are strategically aligned, vendor relationships are high-performing, and contract outcomes deliver measurable value to SFO’s operational mission

• Anticipates financial risks and emerging resource needs, bringing the COO proactive analysis and actionable solutions rather than problems alone

• Executive Stakeholder Leadership

• Serves 100% of the time in executive command authority within SFO’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) structure, coordinating with the City’s Department of Emergency Management, regional mutual aid partners, and federal emergency management agencies

• Serves 100% of the time in executive command authority within SFO’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) structure, coordinating with the City’s Department of Emergency Management, regional mutual aid partners, and federal emergency management agencies

• Serves 100% of the time in executive command authority within SFO’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) structure, coordinating with the City’s Department of Emergency Management, regional mutual aid partners, and federal emergency management agencies