Transition Program Manager - Dallas, TX

Brief Description

The Transition Program Manager (4 Months Contract) leads end-to-end transition and mobilization activities in aviation environments—from pre–go-live planning through post-launch stabilization—across multiple airport locations and service lines. This role ensures operational readiness, staffing alignment, training execution, stakeholder coordination, and risk escalation to deliver stable service performance without disrupting mission-critical airport/airline operations. You will partner closely with internal teams (Operations, Service Desk/NOC, HR, Procurement, Customer Success) and external partners (e.g., ITO and customer stakeholders) to align timelines, expectations, governance, and stabilization of KPIs.

What will you do?

• Transition Leadership & Operational Readiness
  • Lead transition execution from pre–go-live through stabilization across all impacted airport locations and operational sites.
  • Build and maintain a detailed Transition & Operational Readiness Plan with milestones, dependencies, owners (RACI), and cutover/stabilization timelines.
  • Drive readiness validation, including “go/no-go” criteria, cutover runbooks, and operational checklists.
• Cross-Functional & Vendor Coordination
  • Coordinate across Airport Operations, Airline/Station Operations, Service Desk/NOC, HR, Procurement, Field Services, and Customer Success to ensure alignment and execution.
  • Partner with Cognizant and customer stakeholders to maintain clear expectations, scope integrity, and timeline alignment.
  • Ensure transition execution accounts for aviation operating realities (peak periods, blackout windows, access constraints, and 24/7 coverage models).
• Staffing, Onboarding, Training & Knowledge Readiness
  • Ensure staffing plans, onboarding workflows, and training programs are in place and aligned with service expectations and operational coverage needs.
  • Drive role-based training readiness across service teams (Service Desk, Field Services, airport support teams) to reduce go-live risk and improve time-to-productivity.
  • Validate that knowledge artifacts are complete and accessible (SOPs, KB articles, escalation paths, known issues, and support playbooks).
• Risk, Issue Management & Stabilization
  • Own transition RAID (Risks, Assumptions, Issues, Dependencies) log and act as escalation point for risks, issues, and gaps.
  • Establish stabilization metrics (incident trends, SLA attainment, response/resolution, backlog burn-down, customer experience indicators).
  • Lead stabilization governance (daily/weekly rhythms as needed) and ensure clean handoff into steady-state operations.
• Governance, Reporting & Communication
  • Establish consistent communication and reporting cadence, including dashboards, readiness reporting, and executive updates.
  • Identify where processes and communications need tightening; drive continuous improvement and standardization across locations.
  • Ensure clear ownership, reporting structure, and escalation paths are embedded into steady-state operations.

Key Deliverables

• Executed transition plan across all relevant airport sites and service lines.
• Operational readiness validated at go-live (staffing, onboarding, training, knowledge, access, escalation).
• Defined governance model: ownership, reporting structure, and escalation paths.
• Documented processes and playbooks to support ongoing operations.
• Stabilized service delivery and successful handoff to steady-state teams.

Requirements

• 10–12+ years of experience in operational transitions, mobilizations, service implementations, or program delivery in complex environments.
• 5+ years leading multi-stakeholder, multi-workstream programs with executive visibility.
• Demonstrated success managing cross-functional dependencies across Operations, IT/service delivery, HR, Procurement, and customer teams.
• Strong program governance skills: roadmap planning, RAID, stakeholder management, reporting cadences, and escalation leadership.
• Ability to operate confidently in fast-paced, high-impact environments where operational continuity is critical.

Preferred Qualifications (Aviation-Focused)

• Experience in aviation, including airport operations, airline station operations, aviation services, or airport/airline IT support environments.
• Familiarity with IT service delivery practices (Service Desk/NOC, field services, incident/problem/change concepts, SLA management).
• Experience working with large outsourcing or delivery partners (e.g., ITO) and managing service transition expectations.
• Track record of building transition playbooks and standard operating procedures across multiple sites.