Partner - Projects and Process Improvement

Belonging to Air Canada is about belonging to a Canadian symbol, Air Canada recently voted best airline in North America. Take your career to new heights by joining our innovative and diverse team at the forefront of passenger air transport.

The Manager – Projects and Process Improvement is responsible for leading cross-functional initiatives aimed at improving operational efficiency, streamlining business processes, and ensuring project success. This role combines Lean Six Sigma methodologies with hands-on project management to foster continuous improvement and deliver measurable, sustainable results across the organization.

Responsibilities:

• Lead cross-functional projects from inception to completion using a phased approach, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives and stakeholder expectations.
• Act as an expert in process improvement and design, successfully driving initiatives using best-practice continuous improvement approaches such as Lean Six Sigma or Agile.
• Manage project budgets, timelines, and resources to ensure delivery on time, within budget, and meeting established parameters.
• Collaborate with service managers and teams to gather business requirements, define project scope, and establish baselines.
• Lead problem-solving and decision-making within initiatives to ensure quality throughout the project life cycle.
• Identify project risks and issues, implement mitigation measures to remove obstacles, and escalate as needed.
• Prepare and present project status reports, risks, and results achieved to senior management.
• Analyze existing processes and workflows to identify inefficiencies, bottlenecks, and areas for improvement.
• Quantify potential benefits to support recommendations for changes to business practices and processes.
• Develop change cost forecasts for business case analysis and return on investment calculations. Present business cases to Air Canada Maintenance senior management as needed.
• Facilitate workshops and training sessions to foster a culture of continuous improvement across all departments.
• Support business units in establishing and tracking key performance indicators to measure the effectiveness and sustainability of process changes and project outcomes.
• Develop and implement change management strategies to ensure the adoption and sustainability of new processes and systems.
• Conduct benchmarking of best practices and act as a senior advisor to the Manager – Business Transformation and Business Unit Leads to design an optimal change management strategy.
• Propose frontline innovation opportunities and best-practice reuse.
• Mentor and support team members in adopting best practices in project management and process improvement.
• Ensure compliance with internal policies and external regulations during project and process execution.
• Use data analysis tools to support decision-making and track performance trends.
• Collaborate with Management Methods leads and the Regulatory Compliance team to map processes, including process flowcharts, and coordinate updates to the control manual to reflect the latest processes.
• Train and mentor various teams by passing on best practices and lessons learned from initiatives; provide technical support to project teams in accordance with Business Transformation tools and methods.
• Perform any other duties required to support the team.
• Demonstrate punctuality and reliability to support the team's overall success in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Education
  • Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, or a related field (Master’s or MBA an asset).
• Experience
  • At least five years of experience in project management and/or process improvement.
  • Proven experience leading cross-functional projects and implementing operational improvements.
  • Experience in change management and stakeholder engagement.
• Certifications (preferred, not required)
  • Project management certification (PMP, CAPM).
  • Lean Six Sigma (Green Belt or Black Belt).
  • Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) or other Agile certifications.
• Skills :
  • Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills
  • Initiative, self-discipline, and proactive attitude
  • Strong collaborative and teamwork skills
  • Strong talent for communication, facilitation, and interpersonal relations
  • Proficiency in project management tools (e.g., Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, Jira) and process mapping tools (e.g., Visio, Lucidchart)
  • Ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously in a dynamic environment
  • Data-driven approach and experience with key performance indicators to measure results
  • Proficiency in the MS Office suite, BPM messages, and enterprise resource planning systems
  • Availability for travel
  • Proven punctuality and reliability to support the overall success of the team in a fast-paced environment

Employment Conditions:

Candidates must be eligible to work in the country concerned at the time an offer of employment is made and are responsible for obtaining work permits, visas, or other necessary authorizations. Proof of eligibility must be provided prior to the start date.

Language Requirements

Equal consideration will be given to bilingual candidates.

Diversity and Inclusion

Air Canada is strongly committed to diversity and inclusion and aims to create a healthy, accessible, and rewarding workplace that highlights the unique contribution of our employees to our company's success.

As an equal opportunity employer, we encourage diverse applications to build a workforce that is varied and representative of our customers and the communities where we live and serve.

Air Canada thanks all applicants for their interest, but only those selected for an interview will be contacted.