Manager Technology - AI Platform Services

Southwest Airlines · Dallas · $145,600–$161,800 (stated in the posting)

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Department:

Our Company Promise

We are committed to provide our Employees a stable work environment with equal opportunity for learning and personal growth. Creativity and innovation are encouraged for improving the effectiveness of Southwest Airlines. Above all, Employees will be provided the same concern, respect, and caring attitude within the organization that they are expected to share externally with every Southwest Customer.

Job Description:

As a Manager of Technology on the AI Platform Services Team, you'll lead the Team responsible for building and scaling the AI foundation that powers the next generation of Southwest's Customer and Employee Experiences. You'll guide Engineers and technical Teams in developing reusable AI capabilities—including orchestration, integrations, governance, observability, and agent frameworks—that enable intelligent solutions across shopping, booking, digital servicing, Customer CARE, and future channels. Partnering closely with Business and Technology leaders, you'll help transform AI from isolated experiments into scalable, enterprise-wide capabilities that deliver measurable value. Through People-focused leadership, technical strategy, and cross-functional collaboration, you'll help accelerate innovation, improve operational efficiency, strengthen governance, and enable Southwest to deliver more seamless, personalized, and connected experiences for our Customers while maintaining ownership of critical data, decisioning, and technology platforms.

Additional Details

• The culture of Southwest Airlines means we value the camaraderie, collaboration, and innovation that occurs when we come together and interact face-to-face at our vibrant Corporate Campus. Due to the nature of this role, you would be required to work from our Dallas, TX Headquarters facility during business hours.

• U.S. citizenship or current authorization to work in the U.S. required and no current or future work authorization sponsorship available.

We’re committed to fair hiring practices and to making employment decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, military or veteran status, disability, genetic information, or other legally protected characteristics.

• Guide and lead team members using SWA talent management practices to coach, develop, and engage employees
• Adhere to Company values and competencies to foster a culture of inclusion, recognition, and support of a safe work environment
• Invest in leadership and self-growth through participating in continuous learning and development

• Lead, support, and influence the achievement of the mission, goals and objectives of the department and organization
• Participate fully in organizational processes and initiatives, i.e. performance management, interviewing, budgeting, training, etc.
• Lead the resolution of organization, team and individual issues, making appropriate decision
• Develop and execute strategies and processes to improve performance and the value of products and services provided
• Lead cross-functional Teams to deliver solutions and services to meet enterprise needs
• Provide Technical thought Leadership related to assigned functional areas
• Deliver technology solutions using best practices to achieve maximum Team productivity while delivering high quality products
• Stay abreast of emerging trends, processes, and solutions related to assigned responsibilities
• Build strong, collaborative relationships and credibility while influencing and driving change across respective Business and Technology Teams
• Work with Technology and business partners to measure financial benefits and demonstrable business value
• May perform other job duties as directed by Employee's Leaders

• Knowledge of business/Leadership principals, including planning, organizing, directing, developing, and supervising
• Knowledge of personnel practices and regulations
• Knowledge of software development practices, concepts, methodologies, tools and trends
• Proficient knowledge of project management methodologies
• Skilled in excellent partnering, negotiation and communication in order to facilitate interactions with business Customers and technology teams
• Ability to provide tactical leadership for Team(s)
• Ability to use appropriate motivation and influence techniques to achieve desired Team results
• Ability to set and manage stakeholder expectations
• Ability to deliver quality projects on time and within budget
• Ability to manage projects using the organization's project management methodology

• Required: High School Diploma or GED
• Required: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information systems or similar fields of study or equivalent advanced level experience

• Demonstrated experience in directly or indirectly leading team(s)
• Fully functioning, broad knowledge in:
  • A Business and/or Information Technology environment
  • Leading teams and providing work direction
• Preferred: Experience building and delivering production-grade, cloud-native, AI-enabled solutions  
• Preferred: Experience taking agentic AI, generative AI, or advanced automation from concept through scalable enterprise implementation and operational support
• Preferred: Experience with modern software architecture and platform engineering, including APIs, microservices, cloud-native development, integration patterns, DevOps, and scalable application design
• Preferred: Experience with AI engineering practices, including agent orchestration, retrieval-augmented generation, prompt and instruction design, evaluation frameworks, monitoring, governance, and AI platform capabilities
• Preferred: Experience partnering across product, architecture, security, data, infrastructure, and business to deliver enterprise-ready AI and software capabilities

• N/A

• Ability to perform work duties from [limited space work station/desk/office area] for extended periods of time
• Ability to communicate and interact with others in the English language to meet the demands of the job
• Ability to use a computer and other office productivity tools with sufficient speed and accuracy to meet the demands of the job

• Must maintain a well-groomed appearance per Company appearance standards as described in established guidelines
• Must be a U.S. citizen or have authorization to work in the United States as defined by the Immigration Reform Act of 1986
• Must be at least 18 years of age
• Must be able to comply with Company attendance standards as described in established guidelines
• Must meet confidentiality expectations as to confidential, proprietary and sensitive Company information
• Must be able to travel and /or attend Company and non-Company facilities and remote locations such as remote-based offices as necessary
• Ability to work extended hours as needed

Pay & Benefits:

• Competitive market salary from $145,600 - $161,800 per year to $161,800 per year* depending on qualifications and experience. For eligible Leadership and individual contributor roles, additional bonus opportunities are available and awarded at the discretion of the Company.

Benefits you’ll love

• Fly for free, as a privilege, on any open seat on all Southwest flights (your eligible dependents too)

• Southwest will help fund your Retirement Savings Plan, which includes a dollar-for-dollar 401(k) Company match contribution of up to 9.3% of your eligible earnings**

• Potential for annual profit-sharing contribution in the Southwest Retirement Savings Plan—when Southwest profits, you profit***

• Competitive health insurance for you and your eligible dependents

• Southwest offers health plan coverage options that start from the very first day of employment. You'll have 30 days to select and enroll in your health plan, and coverage will be retroactively available to your first day of employment.

• Explore more benefits you’ll love: https://careers.southwestair.com/benefits

• *Pay amount doesn’t guarantee employment for any particular period.
• *401(k) Company match contributions are subject to the plan’s vesting schedule. Match contributions may vary based on the position.
• ** Profit-sharing contributions are subject to the Retirement Savings Plan vesting schedule and are made at the discretion of the Company.

Southwest Airlines is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
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