Managing Director – Technical Operations Planning

Managing Director – Technical Operations Planning

Location:
Chicago, Illinois, United States

Job ID: WHQ00026913

Job Type
Full-Time

Posted Date: 09/28/2026

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Description

At United, we have some of the best aircraft in the world. Our Technical Operations team is full of aircraft maintenance technicians, engineers, planners, ground equipment and facilities professionals, and supply chain teams that help make sure they’re well taken care of and ready to get our customers to their desired destinations. If you’re ready to work on our planes, join our Tech Ops experts and help keep our fleet in tip-top shape.

Job Overview and Responsibilities

Technical Operations maintains more than 1,000 aircraft to deliver the network schedule of the world’s largest airline. The Managing Director – Technical Operations Planning leads the development and integration of the maintenance plan and strategy across Technical Operations. This includes line maintenance strategy and planning; leadership of or partnership in elements of base maintenance strategy, long-term hangar planning and capacity alignment; tactical daily decision-making; and planning Engineering Authorizations and fleet projects, including airworthiness directives, modifications and inspections, all while maintaining maintenance program and FAA regulatory compliance.

Reporting to the VP – Tech Ops Planning & OSV, this role is accountable for a portfolio of work centered around the core objective of maximizing aircraft availability and minimizing downtime. The role leads or partners in establishing the multi-year maintenance capacity strategy as the fleet grows and its mix changes and ensures that long‑term hangar and base maintenance plans are incorporated into an integrated Technical Operations plan. Working closely with the leaders accountable for those areas and with other key Airline Planning stakeholders, both inside Technical Operations and across other divisions, the role leads the sequencing and resource tradeoffs needed to optimize maintenance requirements, balance schedule needs, and support enterprise growth.

The Managing Director partners with leaders in the Planning & OSV business function, Network Planning, the NOC and Maintenance Control, Line and Base Maintenance, Engineering, Supply Chain, Airframe Vendor Management, Finance and Digital Technology. The role provides leadership for the planning organization’s operating model within its assigned scope, including its standards, tools, analytics and the measurements used to determine whether changes improve the operation. The role also promotes alignment and consistent planning practices across adjacent organizations. The role is Chicago‑based, with regular NOC presence and approximately 20% travel.

Maintenance Network Strategy & Planning

• Leads the integrated development and continued evolution and optimization of the maintenance footprint and associated labor requirements, in partnership with Network Planning, Resource Planning, Line and Base Maintenance, and the leaders accountable for the underlying planning and execution functions, considering fleet growth and mix over a 10–15-year horizon.
• Owns the integration of these inputs into the broader Technical Operations planning strategy and, within the role’s assigned scope, directly leads or influences the resulting plans and decisions.
• Also owns Technical Operations’ input to, and criteria for, network schedule development, including minimum maintenance requirements, aircraft access and touch time, spares, schedule quality indicators and maintenance allocations, serving as the advocate for the aircraft with Network Planning and the NOC.

Leadership & Talent Planning

• Leads through Directors and senior leaders, setting expectations for safety, execution discipline, cross-functional collaboration and accountability; ensures team size, organization and function meet the evolving needs of United Tech Ops; owns succession, bench strength and critical‑role coverage and develops the Directors and Senior Managers who will lead the function; sponsors the strategic schedule reviews across Tech Ops; represents Technical Operations Planning in senior and executive forums with mature executive presence.

Line Maintenance Planning

• Accountable for the NOC Line and Field Planning teams in scheduling routine, non-routine and deferred (MEL, DIP, NEF) maintenance work, special visits, out-of-service aircraft within maintenance program limits and station capabilities and constraints, ensuring work plans have labor, mate