Transition Program Manager - Dallas, TX

Brief Description

The Transition Program Manager (4 Months Contract) leads end-to-end transition and mobilization activities in aviation environments—from pre‑go‑live planning through post‑launch stabilization—across multiple airport locations and service lines. This role ensures operational readiness, staffing alignment, training execution, stakeholder coordination, and risk escalation to deliver stable service performance without disrupting mission‑critical airport/airline operations.

• Lead transition execution from pre‑go‑live through stabilization across all impacted airport locations and operational sites.
• Build and maintain a detailed Transition & Operational Readiness Plan with milestones, dependencies, owners (RACI), and cutover/stabilization timelines.
• Drive readiness validation, including “go/no‑go” criteria, cutover runbooks, and operational checklists.

• Coordinate across Airport Operations, Airline/Station Operations, Service Desk/NOC, HR, Procurement, Field Services, and Customer Success to ensure alignment and execution.
• Partner with Cognizant and customer stakeholders to maintain clear expectations, scope integrity, and timeline alignment.
• Ensure transition execution accounts for aviation operating realities (peak periods, blackout windows, access constraints, and 24/7 coverage models).

• Ensure staffing plans, onboarding workflows, and training programs are in place and aligned with service expectations and operational coverage needs.
• Drive role‑based training readiness across service teams (Service Desk, Field Services, airport support teams) to reduce go‑live risk and improve time‑to‑productivity.
• Validate that knowledge artifacts are complete and accessible (SOPs, KB articles, escalation paths, known issues, and support playbooks).

• Own transition RAID (Risks, Assumptions, Issues, Dependencies) log and act as escalation point for risks, issues, and gaps.
• Establish stabilization metrics (incident trends, SLA attainment, response/resolution, backlog burn‑down, customer experience indicators).
• Lead stabilization governance (daily/weekly rhythms as needed) and ensure clean handoff into steady‑state operations.

• Establish consistent communication and reporting cadence, including dashboards, readiness reporting, and executive updates.
• Identify where processes and communications need tightening; drive continuous improvement and standardization across locations.
• Ensure clear ownership, reporting structure, and escalation paths are embedded into steady‑state operations.

• Executed transition plan across all relevant airport sites and service lines
• Operational readiness validated at go‑live (staffing, onboarding, training, knowledge, access, escalation)
• Defined governance model: ownership, reporting structure, and escalation paths
• Documented processes and playbooks to support ongoing operations
• Stabilized service delivery and successful handoff to steady‑state teams

• 10–12+ years of experience in operational transitions, mobilizations, service implementations, or program delivery in complex environments
• 5+ years leading multi‑stakeholder, multi‑workstream programs with executive visibility
• Demonstrated success managing cross‑functional dependencies across Operations, IT/service delivery, HR, Procurement, and customer teams
• Strong program governance skills: roadmap planning, RAID, stakeholder management, reporting cadences, and escalation leadership
• Ability to operate confidently in fast‑paced, high‑impact environments where operational continuity is critical

• Experience in aviation, including airport operations, airline station operations, aviation services, or airport/airline IT support environments
• Familiarity with IT service delivery practices (Service Desk/NOC, field services, incident/problem/change concepts, SLA management)
• Experience working with large outsourcing or delivery partners (e.g., ITO) and managing service…