Welcome to San Diego International Airport, where our core purpose is to create an exceptional experience for both our community and visitors from around the world. It extends beyond just flights; we embody the vibrant spirit of San Diego itself—sunny, welcoming, and full of life. We are committed to attracting, fostering, and empowering a team of talented individuals who can deliver our strategic goals:
- Advance Airport Development
- Transform the Customer Experience
- Optimize Ongoing Business
- Cultivate Our Culture
Here, you'll find a workplace culture that is anchored in our collective mindsets: collaboration, empathy, inclusivity, thoughtful decision-making, active listening, and always believing the best in people. If you are ready to contribute to a team that values meaningful impact and enjoys the journey along the way, we invite you to apply today and help us connect our community to the world.
Why You'll Love Working at SAN:
- Location: The new Airport Authority Administration building, located on the San Diego International Airport campus and near the waterfront, providing stunning views of our runway, San Diego Bay, the Pacific Ocean, and the city skyline
- Salary: The targeted hiring salary range for the President & CEO is $250,000 - $400,000
- Wellness: Take advantage of multiple on-site gyms with regular fitness classes, outdoor working areas, fitness discounts for all levels and goals, monthly fruit deliveries, rewards for volunteer time, financial wellness advisors, and a campus with easy access to some of San Diego's best walking trails
- Application Deadline: December 5, 2025. Applications will be reviewed after the closing date
What You'll Do:
- Advise and provide strong administrative leadership to the board of directors in developing and recommending policies; budgets; short and long-range plans, and responsible for implementing such plans on the organization's behalf
- Manage the implementation of the airport's capital improvement projects and budgets; monitor operating and financial performance against plans, and report performance to the board; ensure that these projects are executed on-time and on-budget
- Provide professional exemplary leadership to the organization, promoting and maintaining strong employee morale, and evolve and maintain a culture of collaboration and empowerment
- Assure a customer-centric organization with an emphasis on safety, security and the customer experience, while being cost effective and delivering high quality services
- Create and implement groundbreaking promotions and initiatives that strengthen marketing activities and maintain or surpass business expectations
- Responsible for achieving revenue targets within budget parameters, adhering to all debt covenants, and effectively managing risks; accurately reports company financials
- Manage and enhance relationships with government, regulatory agencies and other relevant stakeholders so as to ensure that their interests are aligned with those of the organization
- Ensure overall monitoring of operational parameters to meet federal, state and local regulatory standards for an airport
- Ensure strategic alignment and strengthen relationships, the CEO will maintain active engagement with the Board, including attending all Board and committee meetings, providing briefings as needed, and overseeing the coordination and management of all Board-related business for the Authority
The Skills We Are Looking For:
- Managing vision and purpose. Communicates a compelling and inspired purpose and direction; optimistic and talks about possibilities; creates mileposts and symbols to rally support and create shared mindsets
- Leadership. Blends people into teams and creates a strong culture; fosters open dialogue and defines success in terms of the whole team; shares wins and successes
- Innovation Management. Brings product and service offerings to market effectively; exhibits good judgement about which ideas will work and can project how ideas will play out in the marketplace
- Creativity. Generates new and unique ideas; easily makes connections among disparate or unrelated notions
- Planning. Scopes the length and difficulty of projects and initiatives accurately; anticipates and adjusts for problems or roadblocks; measures performance against goals and evaluates results
- Dealing with ambiguity. Manages risk and uncertainty effectively; able to act and make decisions without the total picture; able to shift direction comfortably to respond to a changing environment.
- Stakeholder engagement. Works collaboratively with the Board and community to involve people who may be affected by the organization's decisions and effectively represent their needs in the process
Requirements
The Experience You Need to Have:
- Graduation from four-year college or university
- Ten years of progressively responsible experience in executive management with operational experience and revenue and expense responsibility in an asset-intensive business with multiple revenue streams.
- Experience managing complex, confidential and/or politically sensitive projects and contracts including budgets, schedules and quality of work
- Experience applying laws, regulations, policies, and standards to complex and specialized work processes in an airport environment
EEO Statement
It is the policy of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority to provide equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. In addition, SDCRAA will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.
Physical & Mental Demands
Persons with disabilities may be able to perform the essential duties of this class with reasonable accommodation. Reasonable accommodation will be evaluated on an individual basis and depends, in part, on the specific requirements for the job, the limitations related to disability and the ability of the hiring department to accommodate the limitation. If you need any form of accommodation during the recruitment process, please inform the Talent Acquisition Partner (Recruiter).
Under California Government Code Sections 3100 - 3109, public employees are designated disaster service workers. The term "public employees" includes all persons employed by the state or any county, city, state agency, or public district. Disaster service workers are required to participate in such disaster service activities as they may be assigned to them by their employer or law.
