Manager Technology AI Platforms

About the role

Department: Technology 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 Manager Technology supporting Southwest's AI Platforms Delivery Pod, you'll lead a Pod focused on delivering scalable, secure, and reliable AI platforms that enable AI as a repeatable enterprise capability. This role combines People Leadership with technical and delivery ownership-guiding Engineers to build and evolve AWS ‑ based , multi ‑ tenant AI platforms supported by strong Infrastructure as Code, MLOps / LLMOps capabilities, and integrated data ecosystems. You'll partner closely with Product, Architecture, Data, and Cybersecurity Teams to translate strategy into execution-balancing speed of delivery with enterprise ‑ grade governance, reliability, and compliance. Your Pod will help standardize AI foundations, abstract complexity, and accelerate innovation across the Company while ensuring platforms are observable, cost ‑ efficient , and built for long ‑ term scale. In addition to driving delivery outcomes, you'll mentor and grow talent, foster a Culture aligned with the Southwest Way, and influence adoption through strong stakeholder relationships and change management practices. This role offers the opportunity to shape the delivery engine behind Southwest's AI ecosystem and ensure it consistently delivers measurable business value. Model the Southwest Way 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 Responsibilities 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, Skills and Abilities 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 Education Required: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information systems or similar fields of study or equivalent advanced level experience Experience Required: Demonstrated experience in directly or indirectly leading team(s) Fully functioning, broad knowledge in: Business and/or Information Technology environment Leading teams and providing work direction 8-12 years relevant work-related / leadership experience 3-5 years of Platform Architecture for Multi‑Tenant Enterprise AI (AWS-first) 3-5 years of AWS Services Infrastructure as code (IaC), MLOps and LLOps Platform features ⁠ 5+ years of Integration with Data Platforms like Kafta for streaming, Data Lake and Enterprise Data Warehouse (Redshift, Snowflake etc.) ⁠ 3-5 years of Observability, Reliability & SRE Mindset for AI Platforms ⁠ 3-5 years of Cost & Performance Optimization (FinOps for AI) ⁠ 3-5 years of People Leadership &