Special Assistance Team Manager

About the role

The Special Assistance Team Manager is responsible for developing and maintaining Etihad Airways’ special assistance and humanitarian response capability. The role ensures readiness to support passengers, families and employees during mass disruption, major incidents or crises, and leads the activation and management of the Special Assistance Team.

Key responsibilities

• Develop and maintain the ERP Special Assistance Team, Family Assistance and Critical Incident/Peer Support programmes, ensuring alignment with regulatory requirements and international practices.
• Lead recruitment, selection and ongoing engagement of employee volunteers, maintaining sufficient trained resources for organisational response.
• Design, deliver and evaluate initial and recurrent SAT training programmes, including standards, syllabus and competency assessments.
• Assess readiness across the AUH Hub and outstations, identify capability gaps and implement improvements.
• Design, coordinate and evaluate emergency exercises and drills to validate response arrangements.
• Assume the operational role of SAT Manager during mass disruption, leading activation, mobilisation, rostering and management of personnel and contracted resources.
• Maintain governance of SAT operational readiness, including volunteer records, training, rosters, equipment and documentation.
• Develop and continuously improve SAT operational processes, systems and tools based on lessons learned.

Required profile

• Degree or diploma preferred in Psychology, Aviation Management, Human Factors, Safety Management, Business Management or related discipline.
• Fluent written and spoken English; Arabic is an advantage.
• Minimum eight years’ aviation industry experience, preferably in an operational environment.
• Demonstrated experience in developing and delivering training programmes, with digital or online learning development experience desirable.
• Proven ability to lead teams in high‑pressure, sensitive or crisis‑related operational environments.
• Knowledge of aviation emergency response, family assistance and applicable regulatory requirements and international standards.