Manager, Guest Experience Full Time NEW

A best-in-class city that attracts best-in-class talent, Philadelphia is an incredible place to build a career. From our thriving arts scene and rich history to our culture of passion and grit, there are countless reasons to love living and working here. With a workforce of over 30,000 people, and more than 1,000 different job categories, the City of Philadelphia offers boundless opportunities to make an impact.

As an employer, the City of Philadelphia values inclusion, integrity, innovation, empowerment, and hard work above all else. We offer a vibrant work environment, comprehensive health care and benefits, and the experience you need to grow and excel. If you’re interested in working with a passionate team of people who care about the future of Philadelphia, start here.

What we offer

• Impact – The work you do here matters to millions.
• Growth – Philadelphia is growing, why not grow with it?
• Diversity & Inclusion – Find a career in a place where everyone belongs.
• Benefits – We care about your well-being.

Agency Description

The Philadelphia International Airport is the only major airport serving the 9th largest metropolitan area in the United States. It is one of the busiest airports in the country, serving more than 30 million passengers annually. Twenty-seven airlines, including all domestic carriers, offer nearly 323 daily departures to more than 120 destinations worldwide. The airport generates $16.8 billion to the economy and accounts for 106,000 full time jobs.

The Northeast Philadelphia airport is situated on 1150 acres in the northeast part of the City of Philadelphia, PNE is Pennsylvania’s third busiest airport, providing “on call” US Customs, Immigrations and United States Department of Agriculture services to corporate international travel. The Airport averages 215-based aircraft, dominated by single engine aircraft, plus twins, jets, turboprops and helicopters.

Job Description

Position Summary

The Manager of Guest Experience plays a critical role in ensuring an exceptional, consistent, and people-centered experience for all who pass through Philadelphia International Airport—including passengers, airlines, tenants, and PHL’s 17,000 badged employees. This role operates as a strategic leader within the Strategy Division, responsible for advancing a system-wide Guest Experience ecosystem that aligns with PHL’s enterprise strategic plan and brand promise.

The Manager leads efforts to elevate the entire PHL Airport Community, ensuring that every interaction, across every touchpoint, reflects a shared standard of hospitality, operational excellence and Philadelphia’s unique sense of place. This individual oversees guest-facing operations, stakeholder engagement and airport-wide programs that enhance both passenger satisfaction and employee engagement while leveraging data, insights and performance metrics to continuously improve the end-to-end journey. This individual also manages the PHL WORKS program—the airport-wide customer service standards: Welcoming, Ownership, Respectful, Knowledgeable, and Seeks to connect—including digital learning, in-person training, and “train-the-trainer” programming. As the airport’s enterprise-wide service culture platform, this individual needs to ensure it drives measurable impact across all stakeholders.

Essential Functions

• Translate PHL’s enterprise strategic plan and brand standards into actionable Guest Experience initiatives across the airport ecosystem.
• Lead the development of a holistic, data-informed Guest Experience strategy that integrates passengers, employees, tenants and partners.
• Serve as a connector across Strategy, Operations, Commercial and external partners to ensure alignment and execution of Guest Experience priorities.
• Serve as a strategic and operational lead for terminal guest experience, ensuring alignment with enterprise priorities and service standards.
• Drive system-wide consistency and accountability in the guest experience through structured stakeholder engagement and performance expectations.
• Develop and manage Guest Experience KPIs (i.e. NPS, sentiment, journey analytics) and translate insights into actionable improvements.
• Partner with Data & Analytics to institutionalize measurement and reporting frameworks across Guest Experience initiatives.
• Support informed, knowledgeable interactions with passengers by developing expertise in airport processes and customer service standards.
• Build strong partnerships with airport tenants to ensure consistency in customer service and operational coordination.
• Design and lead enterprise-wide recognition and engagement programs to reinforce desired service behaviors and culture.
• Lead initiatives that bring “Philadelphia” into the airport experience, aligning with brand and sense-of-place strategies.
• Lead airport-wide Employee Appreciation programming as part of workforce engagement efforts.
• Develop and support initiatives that center on the experience of airport employees and aviation workers.
• Ensure stakeholders have the tools, training, and information necessary to deliver a high-quality guest experience.
• Partner cross-functionally to embed Guest Experience into operational decision-making, capital planning and commercial strategy.
• Support the Director of Guest Experience with internal and external stakeholders, including the PHL Guest Experience Stakeholder Council, PHL Stakeholder Engagement Committee, partners, and airlines.
• Ability to engage stakeholders, evaluate what will resonate with an airport-wide employee base to be an impactful leader, an authentic cheerleader, a positive representative of PHL WORKS to ensure continued success.
• Manage the contract for PHL WORKS program support.
• Own and evolve the PHL WORKS program as a measurable, scalable service culture program, including training, audits and stakeholder adoption.
• Ability to implement measurement strategies that document the effectiveness of all PHL WORKS initiatives by tracking progress, assessing outcomes, and using data to continually make improvements towards more effective and meaningful outcomes.
• Manage the PHL WORKS airport-wide journey audits, logistics, and data dissemination to stakeholders.
• Oversee the contract for PHL WORKS program support.
• All other duties as assigned.

Required Competencies, Knowledge, Skills, And Abilities

Knowledge of:

• Enterprise strategy execution and change management.
• Customer experience measurement frameworks (NPS, journey mapping, service design)
• Guest experience and customer service principles within aviation or large, multi-faceted public facilities.
• Airport tenant and airline operations.
• Workplace training, digital learning, and service skills development.
• Stakeholder engagement approaches and partnership management.
• Equity, accessibility, and inclusive customer support practices.

Skills in:

• Translating strategy into execution across complex organizations.
• Using data to influence stakeholders and drive behavioral change.
• Managing complex stakeholder relationships with airlines, tenants, and large employee populations.
• Communicating clearly, professionally, and empathetically with diverse audiences.
• Leading frontline service teams in high-traffic, dynamic environments.
• Coordinating programs, training, and recognition initiatives.
• Problem-solving, conflict de-escalation, and improving guest-facing processes.

Abilities to:

• Lead without direct authority across a highly matrixed airport environment.
• Balance operational realities with long-term strategic goals.
• Build strong partnerships and represent Guest Experience with credibility and professionalism.
• Lead teams in delivering consistent, high-quality service.
• Navigate a fast-paced airport environment with flexibility and sound judgment.
• Uphold service excellence standards and drive continuous improvement.
• Work collaboratively across airport departments and with external partners.

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in public relations, hospitality management, aviation management or a closely related field.

Three to five years of experience in customer/guest experience, within a, hospitality, aviation, or large-scale service environments, with demonstrated experience in stakeholder management and program leadership. engagement setting.

We value diverse experiences and are open to flexible qualifications. If you are passionate about this role and meet some of the key criteria, we encourage you to apply.

Bachelor’s degree in public relations, hospitality management, aviation management or a closely related field.

Three to five years of experience in customer/guest experience, hospitality, aviation, or large-scale service environments, with demonstrated experience in stakeholder management and program leadership.

We value diverse experiences and are open to flexible qualifications. If you are passionate about this role and meet some of the key criteria, we encourage you to apply.

RESIDENCY

New hires must establish and maintain residency in the city of Philadelphia within 6 months of appointment. Current City of Philadelphia employees must maintain residency in the City of Philadelphia while employed in this position.

Security Requirements

Obtainment of a Security Badge is a condition of employment. Must pass and maintain SIDA (Security Identification Display Area) and STA (Security Threat Assessment) clearance at the time of appointment and during tenure of employment.

Additional Information

TO APPLY: Interested candidates must submit a resume.

Salary Range: $95,000-$115,000

Discover the Perks of Being a City of Philadelphia Employee:

• Transportation: City employees get unlimited FREE public transportation all year long through SEPTA’s Key Advantage program. Employees can ride on SEPTA buses, subways, trolleys, and regional rail for their daily commute and more.
• Parental Benefits: The City offers its employees 8 weeks of paid parental leave.
• We offer Comprehensive health coverage for employees and their eligible dependents.
• Our wellness program offers eligibility into the discounted medical plan
• Employees receive paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays
• Generous retirement savings options are available
• Pay off your student loans faster – As a qualifying employer, City of Philadelphia employees are eligible to participate in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. Join the ranks of hundreds of employees who have already benefited from this program and achieved student loan forgiveness.
• Unlock Tuition Discounts and Scholarships – The City of Philadelphia has forged partnerships with over a dozen esteemed colleges and universities in the area, ensuring that our employees have access to a wide range of tuition discounts and scholarships. Experience savings of 10% to 40% on your educational expenses, extending not only to City employees but in some cases, spouse and dependents too!

Join the City of Philadelphia team today and seize these incredible benefits designed to enhance your financial well-being and personal growth!

• The successful candidate must be a city of Philadelphia resident within six months of hire

Effective May 22, 2023, vaccinations are no longer required for new employees that work in non-medical, non-emergency or patient facing positions with the City of Philadelphia. As a result, only employees in positions providing services that are patient-facing medical care (ex: Nurses, doctors, emergency medical personnel), must be fully vaccinated.

The City of Philadelphia is an Equal Opportunity employer and does not permit discrimination based on race, ethnicity, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, marital status, source of income, familial status, genetic information or domestic or sexual violence victim status. If you believe you were discriminated against, call the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations at 215-686-4670 or send an email to faqpchr@phila.gov.

For more information, go to: Human Relations Website: http://www.phila.gov/humanrelations/Pages/default.aspx