Director - Strategy & Guest Experience

Role Purpose

The Director, Strategy & Guest Experience is responsible for defining and driving the organization’s strategic direction while embedding a world-class, end-to-end guest experience across all airports and business units. The role leads strategic planning and reporting for Oman Airport Company and group of companies, setting and analysing key initiatives and key performance management metrics across the company, transformation initiatives, and guest experience design, ensuring alignment with corporate objectives, national aviation priorities, and international best practices.

This role acts as a central Centre of Excellence leader , setting standards, frameworks, and governance for strategy execution and guest experience across the airport portfolio.

Job Scope

• Corporate and business unit strategy development and execution
• Group of Company strategy alignment, and overseeing their strategy and reporting
• Guest (passenger) experience strategy and service design
• Enterprise performance management and KPIs
• Strategic initiatives, transformation programs, and innovation
• Cross-functional alignment across operations, digital, commercial, and support functions
• External benchmarking, partnerships, and industry positioning

Key Accountabilities

Strategy & Corporate Planning

• Lead the development of corporate, medium-term, and long-term strategic plans aligned with shareholder and national objectives.
• Translate strategy into actionable roadmaps, initiatives, and measurable outcomes.
• Oversee enterprise performance management frameworks, including KPIs, scorecards, and strategic reviews.
• Conduct market, industry, and competitive analysis to inform strategic decision-making.
• Support M&A, partnerships, and new business opportunities where relevant.

Guest Experience & Service Excellence

• Define and own the end-to-end guest experience vision across the passenger journey (landside to airside and beyond).
• Establish guest experience standards, design principles, and service frameworks across all airports.
• Lead customer insights, research, journey mapping, and experience redesign initiatives.
• Oversee customer satisfaction metrics (e.g., ASQ, NPS) and drive continuous improvement plans.
• Champion a guest-centric culture across the organization and its partners.

Transformation & Innovation

• Sponsor and govern strategic transformation initiatives, including streamlining reporting and service innovations.
• Work closely with Digital, Operations, Commercial, and Technology teams to ensure strategy and experience are embedded into execution.
• Promote innovation, best practices, and global benchmarks in airport strategy and experience design.

Governance & Stakeholder Management

• Act as the strategic advisor to executive leadership on strategy and guest experience matters.
• Coordinate cross-functional and multi-airport alignment through CoE governance structures.
• Engage with regulators, airlines, concessionaires, government entities, and industry bodies as required.
• Represent the organization in industry forums related to strategy, service excellence, and airport innovation.

Qualifications & Experience

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, Strategy, Management, Engineering, Aviation Management, or a related field.
• Master’s degree (MBA or equivalent) is highly preferred.
• Professional certifications in strategy, customer experience, or quality/service excellence are an advantage.

Experience

• Minimum 10 years of progressive experience in strategy, transformation, or customer/guest experience roles with priority given to aviation industry experience.
• Proven senior leadership experience, preferably within airports, aviation, transport, infrastructure, hospitality, or large service organizations .
• Demonstrated experience leading enterprise-wide strategic planning and execution.
• Strong background in designing and delivering customer or guest experience improvements at scale.
• Experience working with multiple stakeholders in complex, regulated environments.

Skills & Competencies

Core Skills

• Strategic thinking and business acumen
• Manging a portfolio of group of companies
• Guest experiences design and service excellence
• Performance management and KPI development
• Transformation and change management
• Data-driven decision making and insights
• Stakeholder and executive-level communication

Leadership & Behavioural Competencies

• Visionary leadership with the ability to influence without direct authority
• Strong collaboration and cross-functional alignment
• Results-oriented with a focus on value creation
• Innovative and future-focused mindset
• High emotional intelligence and customer empathy
• Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, complex airport environment

Success Measures

• Successful execution of corporate strategy and strategic initiatives
• Measurable improvement in guest experience metrics and service quality
• Strong alignment between strategy, operations, and digital initiatives
• Enhanced organizational maturity in strategy and guest experience capabilities
• Positive stakeholder and partner feedback