General Manager, National Operations Standards, Governance & Compliance
Job description
About dnata
dnata, part of the Emirates Group, is one of the world’s largest and most trusted air services providers. With operations across 34 countries, dnata delivers world-class catering, ground handling, retail, and travel services.
dnata Catering Australia & Southeast Asia has undergone remarkable growth in recent years, expanding from $250M to $1B revenue in just three years and now employing more than 4,500 people across Australia and Singapore. The organisation provides catering and in-flight retail to the world’s leading airlines and is a recognised leader in aviation services across the region.
As the business continues to scale, dnata is investing in stronger operational governance, capability and performance frameworks across its national network.
This newly created leadership role will play a critical part in shaping national operational standards, building capability across sites, and ensuring consistent operational performance across the organisation.
About the role
The General Manager – National Operations Standards, Governance & Compliance will report directly to the Chief Operations Officer and will operate across dnata’s national catering network.
This role will provide enterprise-wide leadership across operational standards, training, compliance frameworks and continuous improvement initiatives. The position will work closely with site General Managers and operational leaders to drive consistent standards, improve performance and embed disciplined governance across the business.
The role will oversee several national centres of excellence, including operational standards and training, customer performance, operational process improvement and workforce planning.
A core part of the mandate will be establishing clear operational reporting frameworks and performance dashboards, enabling leadership teams to make informed, data-driven decisions while improving consistency across sites.
This role requires a leader who can operate both strategically and practically — someone capable of designing national frameworks and standards while also ensuring those frameworks translate into real operational improvements on the ground.
Key Responsibilities
To succeed in this role, you will be an experienced operational leader or operational excellence specialist with a strong track record of delivering improvement programs across large, complex organisations.
You will bring deep expertise in operational standards, performance improvement, compliance or continuous improvement environments and will be comfortable influencing senior operational leaders across multiple sites.
You will be highly analytical and able to translate operational data into practical actions that improve performance, capability and consistency across the organisation.
Equally important will be your ability to partner with operational leaders, build trust and ensure that frameworks and standards are implemented in a practical and sustainable way.
Key attributes and experience include:
For a strictly confidential discussion, please contact Callan Raine at callan.raine@troocoo.com. Alternatively, you can request a candidate pack by emailing executive@troocoo.com
To submit an application (CV and cover letter) please do so via the apply button.
dnata, part of the Emirates Group, is one of the world’s largest and most trusted air services providers. With operations across 34 countries, dnata delivers world-class catering, ground handling, retail, and travel services.
dnata Catering Australia & Southeast Asia has undergone remarkable growth in recent years, expanding from $250M to $1B revenue in just three years and now employing more than 4,500 people across Australia and Singapore. The organisation provides catering and in-flight retail to the world’s leading airlines and is a recognised leader in aviation services across the region.
As the business continues to scale, dnata is investing in stronger operational governance, capability and performance frameworks across its national network.
This newly created leadership role will play a critical part in shaping national operational standards, building capability across sites, and ensuring consistent operational performance across the organisation.
About the role
The General Manager – National Operations Standards, Governance & Compliance will report directly to the Chief Operations Officer and will operate across dnata’s national catering network.
This role will provide enterprise-wide leadership across operational standards, training, compliance frameworks and continuous improvement initiatives. The position will work closely with site General Managers and operational leaders to drive consistent standards, improve performance and embed disciplined governance across the business.
The role will oversee several national centres of excellence, including operational standards and training, customer performance, operational process improvement and workforce planning.
A core part of the mandate will be establishing clear operational reporting frameworks and performance dashboards, enabling leadership teams to make informed, data-driven decisions while improving consistency across sites.
This role requires a leader who can operate both strategically and practically — someone capable of designing national frameworks and standards while also ensuring those frameworks translate into real operational improvements on the ground.
Key Responsibilities
- Define and embed national operational standards, policies and governance frameworks.
- Lead national continuous improvement and operational excellence initiatives.
- Establish clear reporting frameworks and performance dashboards across the network.
- Oversee national training programs and competency frameworks.
- Lead workforce planning capability and support operational leaders in addressing labour challenges.
- Drive improvements in operational efficiency, service delivery and compliance performance.
- Partner closely with site General Managers to implement national initiatives and standards.
- Provide strategic advice and operational insights to the COO and leadership team
To succeed in this role, you will be an experienced operational leader or operational excellence specialist with a strong track record of delivering improvement programs across large, complex organisations.
You will bring deep expertise in operational standards, performance improvement, compliance or continuous improvement environments and will be comfortable influencing senior operational leaders across multiple sites.
You will be highly analytical and able to translate operational data into practical actions that improve performance, capability and consistency across the organisation.
Equally important will be your ability to partner with operational leaders, build trust and ensure that frameworks and standards are implemented in a practical and sustainable way.
Key attributes and experience include:
- Senior leadership experience in large operational organisations.
- Experience in aviation services, food manufacturing, logistics or large-scale hospitality operations highly desirable.
- Strong experience in operational standards, compliance, or operational excellence environments.
- Demonstrated success leading continuous improvement or Lean-style transformation programs.
- Strong analytical capability and experience developing performance dashboards and reporting frameworks.
- Experience delivering national initiatives across multi-site operations.
- Strong stakeholder engagement skills and the ability to influence senior operational leaders.
For a strictly confidential discussion, please contact Callan Raine at callan.raine@troocoo.com. Alternatively, you can request a candidate pack by emailing executive@troocoo.com
To submit an application (CV and cover letter) please do so via the apply button.