Company Alaska Airlines

The Team

Guided by our purpose, core values, and leadership principles, we are creating an airline people love. Our corporate teams set the strategies and operational plans to ensure the success of our company. Whether we use our expertise in accounting, human resources, finance, planning, legal, spaneting, or any of our operational divisions, our shared passion for travel and our guests is what motivates us to achieve excellence each day. If you share our passion for creating an airline people love, we want to hear from you.

Role Summary

At Alaska Airlines, we’re dedicated to delivering seamless, world-class travel experiences for our guests. Our Reservations Contact Center is the heart of our customer journey, providing expert support from booking to departure. We empower our agents with the tools, training, and technology to create exceptional interactions with efficiency and care.

The Director, Reservations Contact Center is a senior leadership role responsible for shaping and evolving our reservations contact center operation. Leading a team of agents primarily located in Washington, Idaho, and Arizona, this role drives strategic planning, operational excellence, and agent engagement to meet both guest experience expectations and business objectives. The ideal candidate is a visionary leader who fosters a culture where employees feel valued, connected, and inspired to deliver outstanding service.

Scope & Complexity

• Oversees Reservations operations for Alaska Air Group (AAG) and its subsidiaries, ensuring an optimized agent and guest experience.

• Develops and maintains budgets, operational plans, and workforce strategies that align with corporate goals.

• Builds and nurtures strong relationships with Union leadership, ensuring productive collaboration and adherence to labor agreements.

• Champions continuous improvement, leveraging AI, automation, and data-driven insights to enhance performance.

Key Duties

Strategic Leadership & Vision

• Defines and communicates a compelling vision for the Reservations Contact Center, aligning with Alaska Airlines’ mission and values.

• Partners with other leaders to develop and execute long-term strategies to elevate both the agent and guest experience through innovation, training, and process optimization.

Operational Excellence & Innovation

• Oversees day-to-day contact center operations, ensuring performance metrics such as CSAT, first-call resolution (FCR), average handle time (AHT), and operational efficiency are met or exceeded.

• Partners with Ecommerce and IT teams to identify and implement AI-driven tools, automation, and self-service enhancements to improve efficiency and customer satisfaction.

• Ensures regulatory compliance, adherence to company policies, and seamless integration of new procedures.

• Maintains a strong relationship with union leadership, ensuring collaborative discussions on contract strategies and implementation.

People Development & Performance Management

• Develops future leaders by mentoring managers and supervisors, ensuring a strong leadership pipeline within the contact center.

• Holds managers accountable for performance, coaching, and engagement, fostering an environment of empowerment and accountability.

• Establishes a culture of continuous learning and professional growth, encouraging innovation and collaboration.

• Champions a culture of excellence, empowerment, and continuous learning among the contact center team.

Communication & Employee Engagement

• Clearly communicates company goals, performance expectations, and service standards across all levels of the contact center.

• Partners with cross-functional teams to ensure agents have the tools, technology, and knowledge to assist guests effectively.

• Works closely with policy and procedures experts to ensure consistency in all customer-facing interactions.

• Creates channels for agent feedback, ensuring employees feel heard, supported, and engaged in driving service improvements.

• Oversees and ensures adherence to applicable call center regulatory and compliance guidelines.

Financial & Performance Management

• Develops and manages the annual budget, aligning resources with business priorities.

• Analyzes performance metrics, cost structures, and operational trends, identifying areas for improvement and efficiency.

• Implements cost-saving initiatives without compromising customer experience or service quality.

Job-Specific Experience, Education & Skills

Required

• 8+ years of leadership experience in airline reservations, contact center management, or customer experience operations.

• 5 years of leadership experience, with at least two of those years leading people.

• Bachelors’ degree, or an additional two years of relevant training/experience in lieu of this degree.

• Proven ability to develop and execute operational strategies that drive efficiency and enhance customer satisfaction.

• Demonstrated ability to influence change, lead large teams, and foster cross-functional collaboration.

• Strong problem-solving skills, with a focus on data-driven decision-making and continuous improvement.

• Excellent communication and leadership skills, with a proven track record of inspiring teams and driving engagement.

• Strong financial acumen, with experience managing budgets and optimizing resource allocation.

• Demonstrated project and change management skills and a thirst for applying research and best practices to existing business problems.

• Exceptional integrity with impeccable ethics in safety and compliance.

• Ability and willingness to travel up to 40 of the time.

• High school diploma or equivalent is required.

• Minimum age of 18.

• Must be authorized to work in the U.S.

Preferred

• Understanding of call center technology and workforce planning.

• Experience managing union relationships, negotiating contracts, and ensuring adherence to labor agreements.

• Familiarity with GDS systems (Sabre, Amadeus, or equivalent) and CRM tools.

• Experience with customer retention and loyalty programs a plus.

• A Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science degree.

Job-Specific Leadership Expectations

• Embody our values to own safety, do the right thing, be kind-hearted, deliver performance, and be respanable.

• High energy, positive, and executive-level presence, along with top-notch written and verbal communication, public speaking, influence, and motivational skills.

• Innovative, apolitical, resilient, fact-based, and a creative, solutions-focused mindset, with the ability to thrive in a rapidly-changing, collaborative environment, and to manage conflict.

• Demonstrated ability to quickly scope situations, develop an accurate understanding of risks, and develop plans responsive to those risks.

• Professional work ethic and demonstrated ability to work with all work groups while addressing people courageously, directly and candidly.

Salary Range

$111,500 - $178,400 / year

Total Target Compensation Range (incl. bonus & equity)

$144,000 - $231,000

Salary Details

The pay range and total target compensation package listed above is the expected pay offered for this position at the start of employment. Your pay will be based on multiple factors, including and not limited to location, your relevant experience/level, experience level, and skillset while balancing internal equity relative to other Alaska/Horizon employees. Alaska/Horizon is committed to fair, unbiased compensation along with competitive benefits in all locations in which we operate.

Note: We dont typically hire at the top of the range.

Total Rewards

Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air pay and benefits can vary by company, location, number of regularly scheduled hours worked, length of employment, and employment status.

• Free stand-by travel privileges on Alaska Airlines & Horizon Air with high priority status

• Select number of confirmed travel credits provided annually

• Comprehensive well-being programs including medical, dental and vision benefits

• Generous 401k match program

• Quarterly and annual bonus plans

• Generous holiday and paid time off

For more information about Alaska/Horizon Total Rewards please visit our career site and view benefits.

FLSA Status Exempt
Employment Type Full-Time
Regular/Temporary Regular
Requisition Type Management
Apply by 7:00 PM Pacific Time on 4/23/2025
Location Seattle - Corporate HQ
Regulatory Information Equal Employment Opportunity Policy Statement It is the policy of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air to comply with all applicable federal, state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment and to ensure equal opportunity in all terms, conditions, and benefits of employment or potential employment.
We also prohibit discrimination and harassment against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information and other legally protected categories.
We have established an EEO Compliance Program under Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (“Section 503”) and the Vietnam Era Veteran’s Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (“VEVRAA”). All applicants and employees are treated without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. In addition, we have established an audit and reporting system to allow for effective measurement of its equal employment opportunity activities.
To implement this policy, we will:
(1) Recruit, hire, train and promote qualified persons in all job titles, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information and any other legally protected categories;
(2) Ensure that employment decisions are based only on valid job requirements; and
(3) Ensure that all personnel actions and employment activities such as compensation, benefits, promotions, layoffs, return from layoff, Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air sponsored programs, and tuition assistance will be administered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information and other legally protected categories.
Employees and applicants for employment will not be subjected to harassment, intimidation, threats, coercion or discrimination because they have engaged or may engage in (1) filing a complaint, (2) opposing any act or practice made unlawful by, or exercising any other right protected by, any Federal, State or local law requiring equal opportunity, including Section 503 and the equal opportunity provisions of VEVRAA, or (3) assisting or participating in any investigation, compliance evaluation, hearing, or any other activity related to the administration of any Federal, State or local law requiring equal opportunity, including Section 503 and the equal opportunity provisions of VEVRAA.
Government Contractor & Department of Transportation (DOT) Regulations Alaska Airlines & Horizon Air are regulated by the Department of Transportation (DOT – regulations, 49 CFR part 40) and all applicants are advised that post-offer and/or pre-employment drug testing will be conducted to determine the presence of marijuana, cocaine, opioids, phencyclidine (PCP) and amphetamines or a metabolite of these drugs prior to any offer or employment or transfer into a safety-sensitive position. Failure to submit to testing or positive indications of drug use will render the applicant ineligible for employment with Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air and any employment offer will be withdrawn.
A: Y - T1
L: LI-B
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Job Locations USA-WA-SeaTac
Requisition ID 2025-14257
Category Corporate & Operations