Airport Manager

Airport Manager

Norman B. Saunders International Airport

Turks and Caicos Islands Airports Authority

Job Title: Airport Manager, Norman B. Saunders International Airport   Company: Turks and Caicos Islands Airports Authority   Location: South Caicos, Turks and Caicos Islands   Job Type: Full-time   Contract: Three-year fixed-term, renewable subject to performance   Salary: Competitive, commensurate with experience (discussed with shortlisted candidates), plus first-term completion bonus, accommodation and transportation arrangements   Industry: Aviation / Airport Operations / Transportation Infrastructure   Seniority: Mid-Senior   Reporting To: Executive Director, Airport Operations

About the Authority

The Turks and Caicos Islands Airports Authority (TCIAA) is the statutory body responsible for the construction, control, management, and operation of the six airports serving the Turks and Caicos Islands. The Authority is leading a portfolio of major capital and operational initiatives across its network under the National Aviation Infrastructure Development Programme, including the redevelopment of Howard Hamilton International Airport, the comprehensive development of Clifford Gardiner Airport, the renovation of JAGS McCartney International Airport, and the completion and operational establishment of Norman B. Saunders International Airport on South Caicos.

About Norman B. Saunders International Airport

Norman B. Saunders International Airport (NBSIA) on South Caicos is the Authority’s newest international gateway. A new passenger terminal was commissioned in June 2024; however, substantive external works, ancillary infrastructure, and the broader operational and commercial build-out remain incomplete. Completion of the outstanding works is being coordinated by the Authority’s central projects team. The Airport Manager is responsible for driving that completion from the ground while simultaneously running the airport at the standard a modern international gateway demands.

About the role

This is a transformation role. The Airport Manager is the on-site senior leader of Norman B. Saunders International Airport — responsible for the safety, security, operational performance, customer experience, commercial activation, and overall standing of the airport. The role drives the airport from incomplete to finished, and from new to well-run at international standards.

This is not a caretaker post and not a learning post. The Authority is seeking an experienced, proactive, results-oriented manager who will take full ownership of the airport — facility, people, partners, passengers, and commercial proposition — and who will operate with the judgement, initiative, and discipline to do so largely independently, while reporting clearly and frequently into the Executive Director of Airport Operations.

Responsibilities

• Lead the day-to-day operation of Norman B. Saunders International Airport to high standards of safety, efficiency, presentation, and customer experience, with a visible, boots-on-the-ground leadership posture across the terminal, ramp, and landside.
• Act as the on-site institutional driver of the completion of the airport build-out, pushing the central projects team and contractors to deliver outstanding works, snag list items, and ancillary infrastructure on a documented basis. Maintain a structured project-completion tracker for the airport.
• Lead the Operational Readiness, Activation and Transfer (ORAT) processes for each project phase, ensuring new systems are functional and staff are trained, confident, and accountable for using them.
• Partner with the Executive Director of Commercial, Product, and Digital Innovation to design, introduce, and grow the airport’s commercial proposition across retail, food and beverage, advertising, ground transportation, lounges, parking, real estate, and other non-aeronautical streams. Act as the senior on-site relationship owner for concessionaires and commercial partners.
• Act as the Authority’s compliance gatekeeper at the airport — ensuring absolute compliance with TCCAA, ASSI/OTARs, ICAO, and other applicable safety, security, and regulatory frameworks; operating the Safety Management System as a living daily discipline; preparing for regulatory audit as a matter of standing posture.
• Establish and embed customer experience as a quality discipline at the airport, with measurable service standards and accountability for outcomes; lead the airport’s preparation for and participation in globally recognised quality service programmes.
• Manage the end-to-end passenger journey, holding ground handlers, security providers, immigration, customs, airlines, and Authority staff to coordinated performance and to Service Level Agreements.
• Lead the team at the airport with charisma, clarity, and accountability — building a culture of ownership, pride, professionalism, and service — and operate a disciplined, data-driven reporting cadence into headquarters.
• Develop and manage the airport’s annual operating budget, identify cost-saving and efficiency opportunities without compromising service standards, and work closely with the Executive Director of Finance, Procurement and Quality Assurance on financial planning, procurement, and reporting.

Requirements

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Aviation/Airport Management, Business Administration, Engineering, or a related discipline from a recognised institution. A Master’s degree in a relevant discipline is desirable. A Project Management certification (PMP, PRINCE2, or equivalent) is a distinct asset.

Experience:

• Minimum eight (8) years of progressive experience in airport operations, aviation operations, or comparable complex facility operations management within a customer-service-facing/hospitality-focused environment, with at least three (3) years in a direct senior leadership or station-leadership capacity.
• Demonstrable track record of leading the operation of an airport or comparable facility through a period of transition — commissioning, expansion, construction, restructuring, or major operational change.
• Demonstrable experience driving the completion of capital works on the ground — working with project teams and contractors, managing snag lists and operational readiness, and refusing to accept drift.
• Experience operating an airport or comparable facility independently of a fully resourced headquarters.
• Working familiarity with the commercial dimensions of airport operations — concessions, tenant relationships, non-aeronautical revenue — sufficient to be a credible partner to a central commercial function.
• Substantive experience managing third-party providers (ground handlers, security providers, concessionaires, contractors) against Service Level Agreements.
• Strong working knowledge of international civil aviation regulatory frameworks (ICAO Annexes) and Safety Management Systems.
• Experience in a small jurisdiction, a tourism-dependent economy, or a Caribbean / Sister Island context is a significant asset.

Skills:

• Ownership and initiative.
• Operational excellence and pace.
• Practical commercial acumen.
• Safety and compliance instinct — gatekeeper mindset.
• Customer focus.
• Charisma and leadership presence.
• Data and reporting discipline.
• Resilience and resourcefulness in a Sister Island setting.
• Strong written and verbal communication.

Benefits

• Competitive base salary commensurate with the seniority and scope of the role.
• Completion bonus tied to the three-year contract term and to delivery of agreed transformation outcomes.
• Accommodation or housing allowance for overseas hires, or as agreed with the Authority.
• Vehicle for the duration of the appointment, or transportation allowance as agreed.
• Relocation support for overseas hires, if appropriate.
• Mobile phone and plan.
• Private medical insurance, including life insurance (shared cost).
• Employee Savings Programme.
• TCIG Pension Scheme.
• Training, certification, and professional development opportunities.