Chief Customer Services Officer

1. Job purpose

The Chief Customer Services Officer (CCSO) is accountable for the safe, compliant, consistent and commercially responsible delivery of the Uganda Airlines customer experience across the passenger journey. The role provides executive leadership for cabin services, ground operations, passenger handling, baggage services, travel-document verification, ramp and turnaround coordination, ground support equipment, catering and lounges, service recovery, customer complaints and claims. The CCSO establishes service standards, ensures operational readiness and regulatory compliance, protects customers during normal and disrupted operations, and works across the Company to deliver a dependable service promise that strengthens loyalty, reputation and sustainable growth.

2. Key accountabilities

(a) Customer service strategy and executive leadership

• Develop and execute the customer service strategy, annual service plan, manpower priorities and budget in support of corporate objectives and the Uganda Airlines brand promise.
• Translate customer needs, operational requirements and commercial priorities into clear service standards, accountable owners, delivery milestones and measurable outcomes.
• Advise the Chief Executive Officer and Board on customer experience, service risks, operational readiness, complaints and claims trends, and material service investments.
• Chair customer service performance reviews and ensure timely corrective action where service, safety, punctuality, baggage, catering, lounge or customer-recovery performance falls below target.

(b) End-to-end customer journey and service standards

• Own the design and consistent delivery of customer service standards from airport arrival and check-in through boarding, in-flight service, arrival, baggage delivery and post-travel support.
• Define service procedures for different customer groups, including premium customers, customers requiring special assistance, unaccompanied minors, disrupted passengers and customers with accessibility needs.
• Ensure service standards are practical, trained, measured and aligned across cabins, airport, catering, lounges, commercial and digital touchpoints.
• Use customer insight, operational data and frontline feedback to remove recurring pain points and improve customer proposition.

© Cabin services, safety and crew performance

• Provide executive oversight of cabin service operations, safety standards and training, service product and grooming, senior pursers and cabin crew.
• Ensure cabin services comply with applicable civil aviation (UCAA) requirements, approved manuals, safety procedures, security requirements and the authority of the aircraft commander.
• Ensure adequate numbers of qualified, current, medically fit and properly rostered cabin crew are available for the approved operating programme.
• Oversee cabin crew recruitment requirements, induction, recurrent training, checking, performance management, grooming, conduct and service consistency.
• Promote professional standards, crew resource management, fatigue awareness, safety reporting, just culture and disciplined compliance with standard operating procedures.

(d) Ground operations and passenger handling

• Provide executive oversight of Entebbe hub and network ground operations, station management, passenger check-in, boarding, flight monitoring, travel-document verification and passenger assistance.
• Ensure stations are operationally ready and comply with Company procedures, airport requirements, immigration and destination-document controls, security obligations and applicable service-level agreements.
• Maintain effective controls over passenger acceptance, denied boarding, special-service requests, boarding reconciliation, baggage acceptance and other departure-control processes.
• Lead the business and technical evaluation, recommendation, selection and ongoing oversight of ground handlers and catering service providers across the entire network, working through approved procurement, legal, finance, safety and quality processes to ensure selected providers can meet Uganda Airlines’ safety, service, operational-readiness, cost and contractual-performance requirements.

(e) Ramp, turnaround and ground support equipment

• Oversee ramp activities, turnaround coordination, load-control interfaces, aircraft handling, loading supervision, cabin grooming, transport support and use of ground support equipment.
• Ensure safe and punctual turnarounds through clear milestones, role ownership, escalation protocols and close coordination with Flight Operations, Maintenance, Security, Catering and airport partners.
• Ensure ground support equipment is suitable, available, maintained, safely operated and supported by competent personnel and reliable records.
• Drive reduction of controllable ground delays, aircraft damage, handling irregularities, unsafe practices and avoidable turnaround failures.

(f) Baggage services and tracing

• Set and enforce standards for baggage acceptance, reconciliation, loading, transfer, delivery, tracing and customer communication.
• Ensure effective use of WorldTracer and other approved systems, timely file creation and updates, proper custody of baggage, and accurate reporting across stations and service providers.
• Review mishandled baggage trends, root causes, recovery time, compensation exposure and repeat failures; require corrective action at responsible stations and providers.
• Ensure baggage claims and compensation are handled fairly, consistently and within applicable conditions of carriage, conventions, laws and approved authority limits.

(g) Catering, lounges and in-flight service product

• Lead the catering and lounge strategy, standards, supplier arrangements, menus, provisioning controls, service presentation and product-development priorities.
• Establish, document and continuously improve ground and inflight service standards, ensuring they are practical, trained, measured and consistently applied across stations, lounges, cabins and service providers in line with the Uganda Airlines service promise.
• Ensure catering and lounge services meet food-safety, hygiene, security, special-meal, allergen-control, quality and regulatory requirements.
• Align catering uplift and lounge capacity with schedules, aircraft type, passenger loads, route profiles, cabin configuration and approved service specifications.
• Control wastage, stock, equipment, service recovery and supplier performance while protecting product quality and customer value.

(h) Customer relations, complaints, claims and service recovery

• Establish accessible and consistent processes for receiving, investigating, resolving and learning from complaints, compliments, claims and customer feedback.
• Set service-recovery and compensation principles within approved conditions of carriage, laws, policies and delegated authority, with appropriate Legal and Finance review.
• Ensure customers affected by delays, cancellations, misconnections, denied boarding, baggage disruption or service failure receive timely information, care and resolution.
• Monitor complaint volumes, ageing, recurrence, compensation cost, root causes and customer sentiment, and ensure responsible departments close systemic issues.
• Provide executive oversight of sensitive, escalated, reputational or high-value customer cases and ensure accurate records and defensible decisions.

(i) Safety, security, quality and regulatory compliance

• Ensure Customer Services activities comply with applicable civil aviation, occupational health and safety, aviation security, dangerous goods, public health, consumer-protection, data-protection and accessibility requirements.
• Support the Company’s Safety Management System by ensuring hazards are reported, risks are assessed, mitigations are implemented and safety actions are closed effectively.
• Maintain readiness for UCAA, IOSA, security, quality and customer-service audits; ensure findings and corrective actions are closed within agreed timelines.
• Ensure controlled manuals, procedures, training records, operational records and service-provider documentation remain current, complete and accessible.
• Stop or escalate any customer service or ground activity where safety, security, regulatory compliance or aircraft protection cannot be assured.

(j) Operational resilience and disruption management

• Ensure customer care is fully integrated into disruption plans, the Integrated Operations Control Centre and station recovery arrangements.
• Establish practical procedures for re-accommodation support, meal and hotel care, special assistance, baggage recovery, customer communication and airport crowd management.
• Provide visible executive leadership during significant disruptions and ensure decisions protect safety, vulnerable customers, service fairness, reputation and network recovery.
• Conduct post-disruption reviews, quantify service and claims impact, and require corrective action for avoidable failures.

(k) Financial, supplier and resource management

• Own the Customer Services budget and resource plan, ensuring prudent expenditure, reliable forecasting and priority for safety, compliance and operational continuity.
• Prepare credible business cases for people, training, facilities, lounges, equipment, service improvements and customer-support technology.
• Ensure ground handling, catering, lounge, transport, grooming and other service contracts contain clear standards, measures, audit rights, escalation arrangements and remedies.
• Monitor supplier performance, invoices, credits, penalties, wastage and customer-impact costs, and ensure value is obtained without weakening safety or service standards.

(l) People leadership and stakeholder management

• Build a capable, ethical and accountable customer services leadership team; set objectives, review performance, develop successors and address capability or conduct gaps.
• Maintain visible engagement with cabin crew, airport teams and service partners, ensuring frontline concerns and improvement ideas receive timely attention.
• Promote close cooperation with Operations, Commercial, Safety, Security, Finance, People and Culture, Legal, Information Technology and Corporate Planning.
• Represent Uganda Airlines with regulators, airports, ground handlers, caterers, lounge providers, immigration authorities, tourism bodies and customer organizations.

           3. Minimum qualifications and experience

• Bachelor’s degree in aviation management, Hospitality Management, Business Administration, Tourism, Customer Experience, Operations Management or another relevant discipline from a recognized institution or the equivalent in Airline Commercial experience.
• A master’s degree aviation management, Hospitality Management, Business Administration, Tourism, Customer Experience, Operations Management or another relevant discipline from a recognized institution or the equivalent in Airline Commercial or service industry working experience of ten (10) years.
• Professional training in airline customer service, ground operations, cabin services, safety management, service quality, hospitality or leadership is a MUST.
• At least twelve (12) years of progressively responsible aviation, transport or complex service-industry experience, including at least ten (10) years in a senior leadership role with substantial responsibility for people, budgets and delivery of multi-location service.
• Demonstrated airline experience across several of the following areas: ground operations, passenger handling, cabin services, catering, lounges, baggage services, disruption management, customer relations or claims is a MUST.
• Sound working knowledge of applicable civil aviation safety and security requirements, passenger-handling controls, service-provider oversight, consumer obligations and airline conditions of carriage.
• Proven experience leading service transformation, managing major operational disruptions, overseeing outsourced providers and presenting executive recommendations based on customer and operational data.
• Must be 45 years and above

  4. Knowledge, skills and competencies

• Customer experience strategy and service design
• Airline ground operations and passenger handling
• Cabin service, cabin safety and crew leadership
• Catering, lounge and inflight-product management
• Baggage operations, tracing and claims governance
• Disruption management and service recovery
• Safety, security, quality and regulatory judgement
• Supplier, contract and service-level management
• Financial management and resource prioritization
• Data-led performance management and root-cause analysis
• Clear executive communication and stakeholder influence
• People leadership, coaching and succession development
• Calm, fair and decisive leadership under pressure

  NB: The applicants shall apply and submit their application and resumes through the website and additionally send a copy of application to directors@ugandairlines.com

  Should you have any inquiries concerning the job advertisement please send them to directors@ugandairlines.com

g, the Approved Maintenance Organization (AMO), Safety and Quality. As Accountable Manager, the job holder has ultimate executive accountability for ensuring that the Company’s approved operations are properly financed and resourced, that the Safety Management System (SMS) and Quality Assurance arrangements are implemented and effective, and that operations are stopped or restricted whenever safety risk or non-compliance becomes unacceptable. The COO translates corporate strategy and the approved network plan into executable operations while protecting airworthiness, operational control, regulatory approvals, people, assets and the Company’s reputation.

2. Key accountabilities

(a)Accountable Manager and regulatory accountability

• Serve as the Company’s Accountable Manager for the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) and relevant operational approvals, subject to acceptance by the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA).
• Ensure that all activities authorized by the Company’s certificates, approvals, operations specifications and manuals are financed, staffed, equipped and conducted in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, approved procedures and conditions of approval.
• Maintain sufficient authority and control over financial, human, technical and operational resources to correct deficiencies and sustain safe operations.
• Ensure that nominated post holders and responsible managers are competent, accepted or approved where required, have clear authority, and discharge their regulatory responsibilities without improper commercial pressure.
• Maintain open and timely engagement with UCAA and other relevant authorities; ensure mandatory reports, applications, variations, responses and corrective-action evidence are accurate and submitted within required timelines.
• Stop, suspend, restrict or decline any operation where safety, security, airworthiness, crew fitness, regulatory compliance or operational control cannot be assured.

(b)Operational strategy and executive leadership

• Develop and execute the airline’s operations strategy, annual operating plan, manpower plan, fleet-operability priorities and operational budget in support of corporate objectives.
• Translate the approved schedule and commercial plan into a safe and achievable operating programme, identifying capacity, crew, maintenance, airport, fuel, navigation, permit and service-provider constraints before commitment.
• Advise the Chief Executive Officer and Board on operational performance, safety exposure, fleet availability, resilience, major disruptions, regulatory matters and material investment requirements.
• Chair operational performance and readiness reviews, assign accountable owners, and ensure that operational risks and deficiencies receive timely corrective action.

©Flight operations and operational control

• Provide executive oversight of flight operations, fleet technical pilots, flight crew management, operational engineering, dispatch, electronic flight bag administration, weight and balance, flight documentation and navigation support.
• Ensure effective operational control through the Integrated Operations Control Centre, including flight planning, dispatch, flight watch, disruption management, crew control and recovery decisions.
• Ensure all flights are planned, released, crewed and operated within approved limitations,  manuals, licences, recency, duty-time and fatigue-risk requirements.
• Maintain effective command, dispatch and escalation arrangements for irregular operations, diversions, technical events, adverse weather, security threats and emergencies.
• Ensure fuel policies, records and operational decisions balance safety, regulatory compliance, environmental responsibility and cost discipline.

(d) Crew resources, training and competence

• Ensure adequate numbers of qualified, current and medically fit pilots, flight dispatchers, instructors, examiners, operations controllers and other operational personnel are available for the approved programme.
• Oversee crew resource planning, rostering, crew travel and system administration, with effective controls over flight and duty time, rest, leave, training and operational coverage.
• Ensure approved training and checking programmes are properly resourced, delivered, recorded and continuously improved, including recurrent, differences, command, instructor and examiner training.
• Promote professional standards, just culture, fatigue awareness, effective crew resource management and disciplined compliance with standard operating procedures.

(e) Maintenance, engineering and continuing airworthiness

• Provide executive oversight of Maintenance and Engineering and the AMO, including maintenance operations, maintenance control, line and base maintenance, outstations, workshops, engineering, planning, technical records, publications, reliability and airworthiness review.
• Ensure aircraft released to service are airworthy, maintained under approved programmes/schedules and supported by valid records, approved data, competent and authorized personnel, tooling, facilities, spares and contracted services.
• Ensure timely compliance with airworthiness directives, mandatory continuing-airworthiness information, approved maintenance requirements, reliability controls and defect rectification standards.
• Oversee fleet technical availability, aircraft-on-ground recovery, deferred-defect management, maintenance reserves and major checks without compromising airworthiness or approved procedures.
• Ensure effective control of materials, stores, components, unit traceability, calibration, warranties and maintenance supply-chain risks.

(f) Safety Management System and emergency preparedness

• Approve and actively promote the corporate safety policy, safety objectives and acceptable safety performance expectations.
• Ensure the Safety Management System is properly implemented, maintained, resourced and integrated across operational departments and contracted activities.
• Review safety performance, hazards, safety risk assessments, occurrence trends, flight data and other safety intelligence; require effective mitigations and verify their continued effectiveness.
• Protect confidential and non-punitive reporting within the limits of the Company’s just-culture policy, while ensuring willful violations, reckless conduct and unlawful acts are appropriately addressed.
• Ensure the emergency response plan is current and tested, with a trained response organization, reliable communications, family-assistance arrangements and coordination with authorities and service providers(g) Quality and compliance monitoring
• Ensure an independent and adequately resourced quality and compliance monitoring function.
• Approve a risk-based audit and surveillance programme covering Flight Operations, dispatch, maintenance, AMO activities, training, manuals, records, contracted providers and operational stations.
• Review significant findings, root causes, repeat findings and overdue corrective actions; assign resources and authority necessary for permanent closure.
• Ensure controlled manuals, procedures, records and regulatory submissions remain current, approved where required, accessible and consistent with actual practice.
• Maintain organizational readiness for UCAA, foreign authorities, IOSA, customers and other external audits, and ensure findings are closed within agreed timelines.

(h) Operational performance, resilience and efficiency

• Set and monitor operational targets for safety, completion, punctuality, technical dispatch reliability, aircraft availability, crew productivity, fuel efficiency and disruption recovery.
• Lead cross-functional management of significant disruptions, ensuring decisions protect safety, passengers, aircraft, crews, regulatory compliance and network recovery.
• Ensure continuous improvement in operational performance by reducing avoidable delays and cancellations, eliminating recurring technical defects, minimizing operational waste, and strengthening the reliability and accountability of third-party service providers.
• Ensure operational data is complete, timely and reliable, and use it to identify systemic constraints, improve planning and support accountable decision-making.
• Sponsor appropriate operational technology, automation and process improvement, with effective change management, cybersecurity, business continuity and user competence.

(i) Financial and resource management

• Own the Operations budget and capital priorities, ensuring expenditure is necessary, approved, controlled and directed first to safety, compliance and operational continuity.
• Prepare credible resource cases for fleet support, spares, tooling, maintenance, training, crew, operational facilities and safety or quality improvements.
• Ensure outsourced operational and maintenance activities are governed by clear contracts, approved interfaces, competent providers, service measures, audit rights and effective oversight.
• Balance operational efficiency with safety and airworthiness, ensuring financial pressure never results in operations outside approved limits or the deferral of mandatory action.

(j) People leadership and stakeholder management

• Build a competent, ethical and accountable operations leadership team; establish objectives, review performance, develop successors and address capability or conduct gaps.
• Promote effective cooperation among Flight Operations, Maintenance and Engineering, Safety, Quality, Commercial, Customer Services, Finance, Security, People and Culture, Legal and Information Technology.
• Represent Uganda Airlines with UCAA, foreign regulators, airports, air navigation service providers, manufacturers, lessors, maintenance providers, fuel suppliers and industry partners.
• Foster a culture in which safety, compliance, professional discipline, learning, respectful challenge and operational excellence are visible leadership priorities.3. Minimum qualifications and experience
• Bachelor’s degree in aviation, Aeronautical or Mechanical Engineering, Air Transport Management, Operations Management, or the equivalent in Airline Commercial working experience.
• A Master’s degree in Aviation Management, Aeronautical or Mechanical Engineering, Air Transport Management, Operations Management or the equivalent Airline Commercial working experience of ten (10) years.
• Appropriate aviation professional qualifications and training relevant to flight operations, aircraft maintenance, continuing airworthiness, safety management, quality management or executive aviation leadership is a MUST.
• At least fifteen (15) years of progressively responsible aviation experience, including at least ten (10) years in senior airline operational leadership with substantial authority over people, budgets and safety-critical activities.
• Demonstrated senior experience in at least one core technical domain, flight operations or aircraft maintenance and continuing airworthiness, together with strong working knowledge of the other domain.
• Sound knowledge of Uganda’s civil aviation requirements, ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices, Safety Management Systems, compliance monitoring, human factors, emergency response and applicable international operating standards.
• Proven experience dealing with civil aviation authorities, maintaining operational approvals, leading regulatory or IOSA audits, managing significant disruptions, and closing complex safety or compliance findings.
• Must satisfy UCAA’s applicable competence, experience, fit-and-proper and acceptance requirements for the Accountable Manager role.
• Must be 45 years and above

4.  Knowledge, skills and competencies

• Visible safety leadership and uncompromising regulatory judgement
• Airline operations, operational control and disruption management
• Aircraft maintenance, engineering and continuing airworthiness governance
• Safety Management Systems, quality assurance and compliance monitoring
• Operational planning, fleet availability and resource optimization
• Risk assessment, root-cause analysis and corrective-action governance
• Emergency response and business continuity
• Financial management and investment prioritization
• Data-led performance management and systems thinking
• Regulatory engagement, technical communication and Board-level reporting
• Decisiveness under pressure and authority to stop unsafe operations
• People leadership, just culture, coaching and succession development
• Negotiation and oversight of technical and operational service providers

NB: The applicants shall apply and submit their application and resumes through the website and additionally send a copy of application to directors@ugandairlines.com

Should you have any inquiries concerning the job advertisement please send them to directors@ugandairlines.com