Jobs at South African Airways (SAA)

Job Purpose    

• The Chief Airline Operations Officer is responsible for managing and coordinating execution of daily airline operations with direct oversight of Global Operations Control Centre; Flight Operations; In Flight Services; Flight Technical & Maintenance Standards; Crew Planning, Scheduling and Movement; Health and Safety; Aviation Security; Medical; Quality Assurance and the Airline Training Organisation.
• The individual assures airline network reliability, on-time performance, completion factor and safe, compliant and reliable operations while producing maximum customer satisfaction and maintaining low costs.  The primary deliverable for this role is the annual renewal of the Airline Operating Licence.

Principal Accountabilities    

• Establish and promote a culture of safety throughout the organisation; enforce adherence to all legal guidelines and Group policies to promote an ethical operation and commitment to passenger safety
• Oversee the coordination of flight standards, labour scheduling and maintenance to ensure consistent and efficient operating procedures
• Provide strong leadership over monitoring, anticipating, managing and minimising the impact of irregular operations on performance, service and cost
• Ensure the GOCC is coordinating with all other necessary departments, stations, ATNS facilities and airport authorities to solve flight movement issues, including improvement of network flows, reduction of ATNS imposed delays, mitigation of delays and effective use of all recovery tools
• Oversee the long-term and short-term allocation of resources, enabling the airline to meet quality standards of services and safety while maximising utilisation
• Initiate corrections and communicate clarifications to ensure that all Flight Operations policies, procedures and manuals are in compliance with manufacturer’s guidance and appropriate SACAA directives to provide the highest level of safety
• Develop continuous improvement strategies to optimise labour costs and productivity; promote and pursue automation and standardisation of manual processes
• Interface with industry, governmental and regulatory agencies; ensure adherence to applicable policies, procedures and labour contracts
• Delegate, coach, develop and manage a diverse and geographically dispersed team
• Collaborate with Commercial and Customer Experience Operations to enable safe, efficient operations, while promoting a quality customer experience with optimal P&L impact
• Ensure the integration and successful embedment of the culture themes into the current initiatives that will drive the culture evolution

Qualifications & Experience    

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Management or related field at NQF Level 7 and/ or 15 years’ experience in an Airline Operations related role within the Aviation industry environment, of which 10 years is at a senior/ executive management level
• Extensive experience with an international commercial airline, with in-depth knowledge of P&L accountability, operations, commercial, and customer experience is an advantage
• An advantage would be if the individual currently holds or has held a pilot or cabin crew licence previously.
• Prior management experience of large teams across diverse business functions

Knowledge and Skills    

• Industry knowledge
• Knowledge of applicable policies and regulations
• Global acumen
• Challenges status quo
• Excellent performance track record
• Safety mindset
• Expert knowledge of analytical data sources and operations systems
• Vendor management

Attributes    

• Assertive/ decisive
• Calm demeanour
• Problem solver
• People Management
• Leadership
• Influencing skills
• Service orientated (internal and external)
• Customer centric
• Communication skills (written and verbal in English)
• Transparent

Deadline:19th December,2025

go to method of application »

Job Purpose    

• The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is the airline’s strategic financial leader, supporting senior management and the board responsible for financial sustainability and growth. 
• At the highest level, the CFO is accountable for financial and fiscal management of the company taking into account the business strategy and operational requirements.

Principal Accountabilities    
Formulate the Financial Strategy

• Support the CEO and Board in major capital allocation, raising capital fleet financing, business case analysis, investment decisions and M&A opportunities and capital market reporting
• Support of the business profitability goals and corporate strategy throughout the Group

Financial Management and Reporting

• Maintain a deep understanding and leadership of the Group’s revenue and cost performance, capital structure, and competitive financial performance
• Validate and monitor departmental capital, forecasting, financial modelling and operating budgets throughout the Group
• Conduct ongoing analysis and optimisation of the capital structure requirements
• Ensure the accountability of each department within the Finance function in the running of the organisation

Treasury Funding and Reporting

• Ensure that SAA has an efficient and effective Treasury function
• Oversee commercial banking relationships, managing liquidity, working capital and management of foreign currency exposure

Corporate Cash Management

• Have an understanding of hedging instruments and their risk ratings
• Structure and negotiate debt financing and leasing transactions involving commercial aircraft including aircraft acquisition and sale–leaseback transactions
• Manage the overall organisation’s assets, investments and liabilities as well any other liquidity related decisions that may arise in conjunction with the business strategy

Compliance Risk and Governance

• Ensure continuously improved audit outcomes
• Translate the Financial Strategy for stakeholders (shareholder, parliament, employees, and lenders) to develop an understanding of the financial future of the organisation
• Ensure compliance to all policies, standards and regulations such as IFRS and PFMA
• Adherence to IATA BSP/ARC accounting, aviation tax, and aviation accounting standards

People Management

• Plan and understand the future requirements in the Finance function especially related to changes in skills requirements 
• Develop and lead high performing teams
• Ensure the integration and successful embedment of the culture themes into the current initiatives that will drive the culture evolution
• Lead and drive talent management, performance management, training and development of staff in Finance Division

Oversee the Supply Chain function through:

• Ensuring that the strategy developed will ensure the organisation achieves cost optimisation and regulatory compliance including adherence to PFMA prescripts 
• Ensure the management of irregular expenditure and eliminating fruitless and wasteful expenditure
• Ensure efficient contract management of all service providers 
• Partner with the Chief Commercial Officer on network, pricing, and revenue optimization decisions to ensure overall revenue performance of the company

Oversee the Corporate Real Estate and Services function through:

• Ensure that there are proper strategies and plans to manage the facilities
• All physical assets are optimised from a revenue and usage perspective
• Optimise space usage including extracting financial value from SAA properties 
• Adherence to all legal requirements in terms of facilities management

Qualifications & Experience    

• CA (SA) required
• Master’s degree or MBA preferable
• At least 10 - 15 years’ experience in a financial role of a large organisation of which at least 7 years’ is in progressively responsible financial leadership roles at an executive level
• Experience in financial strategy formulation and execution
• Funding and/or Treasury experience will be an advantage
• Experience in SOE’s and related industries will be an advantage
• Aviation Sector or other related industry experience preferred including international experience
• Leadership proven ability to lead large finance teams (>100 staff), influence at board level, and manage investor relations
• Experience implementing ERP and airline financial systems (SAP, Oracle etc)

Knowledge and Skills    

• Industry knowledge
• Financial acumen
• Expertise in finance, accounting, budgeting and cost control principles
• Experience in financial strategy formulation and execution
• Knowledge of digital technologies and trends in Finance
• Negotiation skills
• Strategic aviation, logistics, asset heavy industry knowledge
• In-depth African market knowledge
• Capital marker skills
• Data analytics and technical skills
• Leadership skills
• Cross industry and global business acumen

Attributes    

• Leadership
• Analytic and Data led
• Communication skills (written and verbal in English)
• Presentation skills
• People development skills
• Service orientated (internal and external)
• Detail orientated
• Integrity
• Stakeholder Management
• Transparent
• Assertive/ decisive
• Strategic Thinker
• Commercially Astute
• Resilient and Ethical
• Collaborative Leader
• Change leader
• Technical Proficiency
• Industry Leader

Deadline:19th December,2025