Director of Service Operations
Leesburg, VA
Full Time
Revenue
Senior Manager/Supervisor
Job Title: Director of Service Operations
Department: Revenue (Focus Area: Aviation Networks)
Reports To: Vice President, Customer Experience
Location: Leesburg Virginia or Columbia Falls MT
uAvionix is an agile and disruptive aviation hardware and services organization driven to change the face of airspace integration. We deliver innovative surveillance, networking, and situational awareness solutions that enable safe integration of crewed and uncrewed aircraft into the National Airspace System.
The Director of Service Operations (DSO) is a new role responsible for building, scaling, and operating uAvionix’s Aviation Networks Operations & Maintenance (O&M) organization. This role owns end‑to‑end post‑deployment service delivery for airport, Air Traffic Control (ATC), Air Traffic Management (ATM), and Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) network customers, ensuring high availability, Service Level Agreement (SLA) compliance, predictable cost structure, and an excellent customer experience.
The DSO will lead the transition from today’s reactive, engineering‑heavy support model to a mature, tiered O&M organization centered around a 24x7 Virtual Network Operations Center (VNOC), Tier 2 Field Operations, and Tier 3 Engineering escalation. This position is accountable for operational performance, tooling strategy, staffing models, cost transparency, and continuous improvement across a rapidly growing installed base (200+ customers anticipated).
Duties and Responsibilities:
Service Operations & Leadership Strategy
Department: Revenue (Focus Area: Aviation Networks)
Reports To: Vice President, Customer Experience
Location: Leesburg Virginia or Columbia Falls MT
Position Type: Full Time, Salaried, Exempt
Job Summary:uAvionix is an agile and disruptive aviation hardware and services organization driven to change the face of airspace integration. We deliver innovative surveillance, networking, and situational awareness solutions that enable safe integration of crewed and uncrewed aircraft into the National Airspace System.
The Director of Service Operations (DSO) is a new role responsible for building, scaling, and operating uAvionix’s Aviation Networks Operations & Maintenance (O&M) organization. This role owns end‑to‑end post‑deployment service delivery for airport, Air Traffic Control (ATC), Air Traffic Management (ATM), and Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) network customers, ensuring high availability, Service Level Agreement (SLA) compliance, predictable cost structure, and an excellent customer experience.
The DSO will lead the transition from today’s reactive, engineering‑heavy support model to a mature, tiered O&M organization centered around a 24x7 Virtual Network Operations Center (VNOC), Tier 2 Field Operations, and Tier 3 Engineering escalation. This position is accountable for operational performance, tooling strategy, staffing models, cost transparency, and continuous improvement across a rapidly growing installed base (200+ customers anticipated).
Duties and Responsibilities:
Service Operations & Leadership Strategy
- Establish and lead the Aviation Networks O&M organization Tier 1 VNOC, and coordinate with Tier 2 Field Operations, and Tier 3 Engineering escalation models.
- Define and execute the long‑term O&M strategy to support growth across FAA SAI Blocks, APRT deployments, Part 146 customers, and other Aviation Network services.
- Own service delivery outcomes including uptime, SLA compliance, response times, customer satisfaction, and operational cost efficiency.
- Serve as the executive point of accountability for post‑deployment customer operations and support.
- Support the implementation team throughout the implementation process, supporting a smooth and efficient deployment, and ensuring an efficient transition to O&M.
- Provide training and support to customers.
- Coordinate an interdepartmental team to complete assigned projects on time, to specifications, and with accuracy and efficiency.
- Outlines the tasks involved in the project and delegates accordingly.
- Supports cost analysis, estimating expected costs for the project.
- Conduct risk assessments; reports identified risks to management; provides recommendations for mitigation of risk (including termination of the project if appropriate).
- Performs other related duties as assigned.
- Stand up and operate a 24x7 Virtual Network Operations Center leveraging internal staff and third‑party call center augmentation (e.g., AnswerFirst).
- Define VNOC staffing models, schedules, escalation procedures, and cross‑training requirements.
- Ensure VNOC personnel are equipped to proactively monitor systems, respond to alarms, manage tickets, and communicate effectively with customers.
- Oversee development and use of dashboards, alerts, and automated SLA reporting.
- Define clear Tier 1 / Tier 2 / Tier 3 roles, responsibilities, and escalation thresholds based on issue severity and operational impact.
- Reduce reliance on Tier 3 Engineering by enabling Tier 1 and Tier 2 teams with better tools, documentation, and training.
- Ensure engineering escalation is reserved for complex issues, root cause analysis, and requalification or recertification activities.
- Establish and maintain call trees and communication escalation paths aligned with customer SLAs.
- Coordinate Tier 2 Field Operations and Implementation resources responsible for on‑site support, maintenance, and installations.
- Ensure best practices for site installations, documentation, and as‑fielded configurations are defined, enforced, and continuously improved.
- Develop and manage preventative maintenance programs to reduce outages and service interruptions.
- Coordinate closely with Program Management and Implementation teams to ensure smooth handoff from deployment to steady‑state operations.
- Creates, contributes, updates, and delivers program documentation including customer facing Contract Deliverable Line Items (CDRLs) with high quality and on schedule.
- Responsible for documenting, training, enforcing, and reporting on individual customer SLAs, which will differ across customers and contract types.
- Responsible for documenting, training, auditing, and updating customer and site specific knowledge bases including points of contact for support, access to infrastructure, site leases, customer hours of operation, etc. This will differ for each customer and site.
- Define requirements and roadmap for O&M tooling, including monitoring systems, remote access tools, ticketing systems, and live knowledge bases.
- Lead trend analysis, root cause tracking, and proactive infrastructure management to prevent recurring issues.
- Establish KPIs and metrics to measure service performance, efficiency, and cost to serve.
- Drive initiatives to continuously reduce operational costs while maintaining or improving service quality.
- Ensure customers receive timely, accurate, and appropriate communication based on issue severity and contractual requirements.
- Act as an escalation point for critical customer issues and service‑related concerns.
- Collaborate with Revenue, Program Management, Engineering, and Executive Leadership to align operational capabilities with customer commitments.
- Support contract renewals, service agreements, and future offerings by providing clear operational input and cost models.
- Proven leadership experience building and operating service, support, or operations organizations at scale.
- Strong understanding of tiered support models, NOCs/VNOCs, and SLA‑driven service environments.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including executive‑level and customer‑facing communications.
- Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret operational data, identify trends, and drive improvements.
- Experience implementing operational tools such as monitoring platforms, ticketing systems, and reporting dashboards.
- Ability to balance strategic planning with hands‑on operational execution in a fast‑paced environment.
- Comfort operating in regulated, safety‑critical environments.
- Strong project management skills with experience in implementation, deployment, or customer success roles.
- Excellent time management skills with a proven ability to meet deadlines.
- Ability to work independently and manage multiple projects simultaneously.
- Problem-solving mindset with a proactive approach to addressing customer needs.
- Willingness to travel as needed (<20% on average) for on-site installations and customer support. During peak short duration program times, this figure may be exceeded.
- Ability to pass background checks to obtain security clearance from Department of Transportation for access to airport facilities and sensitive information.
- Willingness and ability to cross-train team members on specialized skills to improve overall team effectiveness.
- Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, IT, Networking, Aviation, Operations Management, or a related field preferred.
- Minimum 8-12 years of experience in years of progressive experience in service operations, technical support, network operations, or field services.
- Prior experience supporting aviation, ATC/ATM, telecommunications, IoT, or mission‑critical infrastructure strongly preferred.
- Project management certification (PMP or equivalent) is preferred, or willingness to obtain a plus.
- Experience working with government customers and SLA‑based contracts is a strong plus.
- Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
- Ability to travel as needed for customer sites, operational reviews, or incident response.
- Must be able to lift up to 25 pounds occasionally.
- This is a full-time position with salary range of $130,000-$160,000 commensurate with skills and experience.
- Eligible for performance-based bonuses including spot awards and company-wide annual bonus incentives.
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