About the role

Department:

Technology

Our Company Promise

We are committed to provide our Employees a stable work environment with equal opportunity for learning and personal growth. Creativity and innovation are encouraged for improving the effectiveness of Southwest Airlines. Above all, Employees will be provided the same concern, respect, and caring attitude within the organization that they are expected to share externally with every Southwest Customer.

Job Description:

As Manager Technology supporting Southwest’s AI Operations & Support Pod, you’ll lead the Pod responsible for ensuring AI and agentic systems run reliably and deliver measurable value in production environments. This will stand up and lead a new AI Ops organization that defines how AI systems are supported, monitored, and continuously improved at scale. You’ll establish service level standards, on‑call models, and a follow‑the‑sun support framework across global Teams, while driving strong outcomes in reliability, incident response, and operational efficiency. Partnering closely with Engineering, Platform, and Product Teams, you’ll help connect operations and development—ensuring issues are resolved quickly and translated into long‑term improvements that reduce repeat incidents. With a focus on AWS‑based systems, observability, and evolving AI/ML technologies, you’ll guide your Pod to balance speed, stability, and cost as AI adoption grows. This role offers the opportunity to build and grow a high‑performing team while shaping how Southwest supports and scales AI capabilities across the enterprise.

Model the Southwest Way

Guide and lead team members using SWA talent management practices to coach, develop, and engage employees
Adhere to Company values and competencies to foster a culture of inclusion, recognition, and support of a safe work environment
Invest in leadership and self-growth through participating in continuous learning and development

Responsibilities

Lead, support, and influence the achievement of the mission, goals and objectives of the department and organization
Participate fully in organizational processes and initiatives, i.e. performance management, interviewing, budgeting, training, etc.
Lead the resolution of organization, team and individual issues, making appropriate decision
Develop and execute strategies and processes to improve performance and the value of products and services provided
Lead cross-functional Teams to deliver solutions and services to meet enterprise needs
Provide Technical thought Leadership related to assigned functional areas
Deliver technology solutions using best practices to achieve maximum Team productivity while delivering high quality products
Stay abreast of emerging trends, processes, and solutions related to assigned responsibilities
Build strong, collaborative relationships and credibility while influencing and driving change across respective Business and Technology Teams
Work with Technology and business partners to measure financial benefits and demonstrable business value
May perform other job duties as directed by Employee's Leaders

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

Knowledge of business/Leadership principals, including planning, organizing, directing, developing, and supervising
Knowledge of personnel practices and regulations
Knowledge of software development practices, concepts, methodologies, tools and trends
Proficient knowledge of project management methodologies
Skilled in excellent partnering, negotiation and communication in order to facilitate interactions with business Customers and technology teams
Ability to provide tactical leadership for Team(s)
Ability to use appropriate motivation and influence techniques to achieve desired Team results
Ability to set and manage stakeholder expectations
Ability to deliver quality projects on time and within budget
Ability to manage projects using the organization's project management methodology

Education

Required: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information systems or similar fields of study or equivalent advanced level experience

Experience

Required:
- Demonstrated experience in directly or indirectly leading team(s)
- Fully functioning, broad knowledge in:
  - Business and/or Information Technology environment
  - Leading teams and providing work direction
  - 8-12 years relevant work-related / leadership experience
- ⁠3+ years of People leadership of agentic/AI/SWE teams of 8+
- 3+ years of Delivery ownership for AI/ML or agentic products in production
- 3+ years of Technical depth in modern AI stack (LLMs, agentic frameworks, AWS)
- 3+ years of Hiring and growing AI/SWE engineers in a competitive market
- 5+ years of Agile delivery at scale—Scrum/SAFe, roadmap, dependency mgmt

Preferred:
- ⁠Prior GIC/captive build-out or pod stand-up
- Airline/travel/large enterprise IT exposure
- Vendor management & FinOps for AI workloads
- Public thought leadership in AI/agentic (talks, blogs, OSS)
- Driving back-office/ETO automation programs

Other Qualifications

Must meet confidentiality expectations as to confidential, proprietary and sensitive Company information
Ability to work extended hours as needed

Southwest Airlines is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Please print/save this job description because it won't be available after you apply.

Skills & Tags

Aplyr's read

Southwest Airlines thrives on a low-cost, customer-centric model, attracting employees who value efficiency and a dynamic work environment.
Synthesized from recent postings & public sources

What's promising

•Southwest Airlines offers competitive salaries and benefits, attracting talent in a competitive industry.
•The airline's strong focus on customer service creates a positive work culture.
•Southwest's extensive domestic network provides diverse career opportunities in various locations.

What to watch

•The airline industry faces volatility due to fluctuating fuel prices and economic downturns.
•Southwest's low-cost model may limit resources for employee development.
•Intense competition from other low-cost carriers can impact job security.

Why Southwest Airlines

•Southwest Airlines is known for its no-frills service, simplifying operations.
•The company maintains a unique open seating policy, enhancing boarding efficiency.
•Southwest's employee-first culture is reflected in its consistently high workplace satisfaction ratings.

Aplyr’s read is generated by AI from public sources. Was it useful?

About Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines

southwest.com

View company

Southwest Airlines is a major American airline known for its low-cost fares and no-frills service. It operates more than 4,000 flights daily to over 100 destinations across the United States and near-international locations.