Head of Operational Excellence at ALTANFEETHI – Riyadh

Job Update — September 30, 2026: ALTANFEETHI announced a Head of Operational Excellence position in Riyadh. The official posting refers to a bachelor’s degree in Operations Management, Industrial Engineering, Business Administration, or a related field, and usually at least six years of experience in operational excellence, process improvement, or quality management. The listed application deadline is October 5, 2026. Check the company’s official page to confirm that applications are still being accepted before applying.

Apply for the Position via the Official ALTANFEETHI Page

Why Is Operational Excellence Important?

Operations that provide services to passengers at airports require clear coordination between procedures, teams, locations, and systems. Operational excellence aims to make the way of working understandable and consistent, help employees carry it out safely and efficiently, and review results with the goal of continuous improvement. In the ALTANFEETHI posting, the role is connected with developing and reviewing operational procedures, maintaining the Ground Operations Manual, standardizing documentation, and leading improvement initiatives. It also includes advising leadership on procedural gaps and development priorities.

Standardizing operations does not mean that every field situation is identical. It means that the approved foundation is clear and practical and that changes and exceptions are managed responsibly. When documents are outdated or inconsistent, employees may receive different instructions across locations or shifts. This can affect operational discipline, service completion time, and audit readiness. The role therefore requires an understanding of how information moves from policy to procedure and then into daily practice, while ensuring that employees know which version is current and who is responsible for approving it.

Managing Procedures and the Ground Operations Manual

One of the published responsibilities is managing the development, review, and maintenance of standard operating procedures across terminal operations. The process usually begins by identifying the procedure that needs to be changed, gathering input from process owners and affected teams, reviewing regulatory and operational requirements, and then drafting a clear document that defines the scope, roles, steps, and controls. The language should be direct and reflect real field conditions, because a document that is difficult to understand will not help stabilize performance even if it is carefully written.

The posting also mentions the Ground Operations Manual required by the General Authority of Civil Aviation and managing it through controlled revision cycles to keep it accurate and aligned with regulatory changes. This requires version control, dates, amendment history, review and approval routes, and controlled distribution. The relationship between the manual, procedures, and work instructions should also be reviewed so that different documents do not provide conflicting guidance. When a regulatory or operational change occurs, a structured review helps ensure that related documents are updated and the teams that rely on them are informed.

The role requires an understanding of the stakeholders who provide input, approve changes, and use the documents. These may include operations, quality, health and safety, compliance, training, and corporate communication teams, as well as regulatory parties depending on the nature of the work. Important procedures should not be issued without reviewing their impact on work locations, shifts, and other roles. Documenting feedback and approval decisions also helps explain why a step was changed or kept in place.

Audit and Regulatory Readiness

The posting refers to supporting audit readiness for health, safety, security, quality, and environmental teams by providing accurate documentation and content for regulatory submissions and inspections. This is not limited to gathering files immediately before an inspection. It depends on maintaining an ongoing system where the team knows where each document is stored, which version is approved, when it was reviewed, and who owns it. When an auditor asks about a procedure, the organization should be able to provide the correct version, explain how it is implemented, and show the records that demonstrate compliance.

Useful practices may include creating a review calendar, maintaining a list of documents approaching their review date, and having a method to record findings and corrective actions. If an audit identifies a gap, it should be classified, its cause understood, and the responsible person, deadline, and method for verifying closure should be defined. Correcting the document alone may not be enough if the root cause is insufficient training, weak communication, or a procedure that does not fit the actual working environment. Operational excellence focuses on addressing the cause in a way that improves performance and prevents recurrence.

Consistency between the Ground Operations Manual and work procedures also needs attention. Updating the manual without updating forms or work instructions may create a gap that confuses employees. Linking related documents and reviewing them whenever a relevant change occurs helps reduce this risk. A document matrix can show each document, its owner, reviewer, publication location, and related documents. These tools should be designed according to the scale of the operation so they make work easier rather than adding administrative burden without practical value.

Leading Continuous Improvement

The posting states that the role leads improvement initiatives through process analysis and standardization to increase the efficiency of operational practices, followed by embedding improvements into procedures and documentation and reviewing implementation after launch. This requires identifying a clear improvement opportunity before starting, such as a process step with excessive waiting time, inconsistent execution, or repeated requests for clarification. The team can then collect appropriate data, confirm its understanding of the problem, involve affected employees in designing a solution, and agree on a measurable outcome and review date.

Improvement should be treated as a practical change with clear impact and responsibilities, not as a general statement about wanting to develop. If a task flow is changed, the related procedure, work instructions, and forms should be updated. The team should identify who needs training and how results will be measured. Indicators such as processing time, number of exceptions, or quality of record completion may be monitored when appropriate and available. Results should be interpreted in light of sample size and operating conditions, and changes should not automatically be attributed to one initiative when other factors were also present during the same period.

Another part of the role is building teams’ ability to solve problems and improve work using standard methods. This includes explaining how to define a problem, separate facts from assumptions, analyze causes, evaluate options, and record the action and responsible owner. Employees should also be encouraged to provide feedback because they often see practical difficulties in implementing a procedure before those problems appear in formal indicators. The leader needs to balance discipline in following requirements with creating space for well-considered improvement ideas that can be reviewed and approved.

Skills and Preparation for Applying

The posting specifies a bachelor’s degree in Operations Management, Industrial Engineering, Business Administration, or a related field, together with usually at least six years of experience in operational excellence, process improvement, or quality management. It also refers to experience with procedure governance, audits, and improvement initiatives, an understanding of process-improvement methodologies and compliance frameworks, and the ability to lead standardized improvements across multiple locations. Applicants should verify the complete list of requirements on the official application page and should not assume that this summary replaces any additional conditions stated by the company.

When preparing your CV, choose real examples that show the scope of your responsibility. Explain the type of process or document-management system you worked with, how you coordinated reviews, what steps you took to standardize practices, and how you followed the impact of improvements. Do not include confidential or unverified figures or results. If the information is internal, you can describe the outcome in general terms. Clearly highlight any experience you have in multi-site environments, audit or corrective-action follow-up, revision control, or employee training.

During the interview, the team may discuss how you would handle conflicting procedures, resistance from field teams to a new change, or missing audit documentation. A useful approach is to describe a practical method: understand the requirements, speak with the users of the procedure, assess the risks, identify the authority levels, update the document, then train the relevant employees and follow up on results. Applicants should also explain how they balance speed and accuracy, prioritize operational gaps, and present practical recommendations to leadership.

Understanding the environment in which ALTANFEETHI operates is useful for appreciating how the role relates to terminal operations and passenger services at airports across Saudi Arabia. The posting states that the company manages and operates 27 terminals across airports in the Kingdom and focuses on serving VIP passengers. Use the company’s official page to understand the operational scope and role requirements rather than relying only on unofficial summaries. When applying, keep your documents clear and your contact information current.

Summary

The Head of Operational Excellence role combines document governance, procedure standardization, audit readiness, and leadership of continuous-improvement initiatives. The Riyadh vacancy focuses on managing procedures and the Ground Operations Manual, linking improvement work with documentation and review, and building teams’ problem-solving capabilities. The listed application deadline is October 5, 2026; confirm that the vacancy remains open on the official page and submit a CV that clearly explains your real experience.