Salary Grade: NC14 Salary Range: $47,959 - $83,928

The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) Division of Aviation promotes the economic well-being of North Carolina by developing a safe and robust air transportation system. As the state’s aviation authority, the Division drives N.C. aviation development, state and federal airport development grant programs, unmanned aircraft systems safety and use, aviation safety education and training, and air transportation that advances state agency missions.

The Aviation Program Coordinator reports to the Aviation Business Development Manager and is responsible for developing and managing a range of programs and initiatives that strengthen airport management and operations.

The position directs the North Carolina Airport Technical Assistance Program (NC AirTAP), a Division program managed in cooperation with university partners that helps N.C. airports improve the safety, quality and efficiency of their operations and work more effectively with the Division to strengthen the state’s public airport system. This position steers the direction of the program, works to expand its offerings, manages the NC AirTAP Steering Committee and works collaboratively with stakeholders to inform and offer its programs. This includes the Airport Leadership and Management Program (ALMP), the 12-course signature N.C. AirTAP program that covers every aspect of airport operations and management, and its related North Carolina Airport Professional credentialing program.

The position monitors airport and aviation safety and operational challenges, trends and best practices and develops workshops and materials to support airports in improving operations, safety and security. That includes serving as NCDOT’s representative to the Federal Aviation Administration Safety Team (FAASTeam) to leverage its resources to help to lower the aviation accident rate and create a safety culture within the state’s aviation community.

The position explores and helps implement aviation technology innovations that benefit the state’s public airports, including managing a new initiative to deploy airport operations counting tools at the state’s public airports.

The position manages the Aviation Career Education (ACE) Academy Grant Program, which supports aviation workforce development in North Carolina with grants for public airports that host aerospace and aviation career-focused summer academies for middle and high school students.

The position support efforts to expand the talent pipeline for airports and aviation careers that are in high demand and emerging, such as pilots, maintenance technicians, air traffic control personnel and unmanned aircraft systems specialists, as well as engineers and contractors working in airport development. This includes supporting airport and partner programs that inspire and expose North Carolina residents to aviation careers, with particular focus on programs that target youth and underrepresented, unemployed and underemployed populations. It includes managing the Division’s annual statewide youth art competition. It includes expanding the Division’s participation in NCDOT engineering and HBCU internship programs, developing meaningful internship experiences and placing interns within the Division and at airports across the state to expose them to aviation careers. The position builds and maintains collaborative relationships with NCDOT’s talent recruitment staff to ensure Aviation is well represented in its outreach activities.

The position develops, manages and reports on the Division’s strategies and action plan to build a more equitable, diverse and inclusive organization and recruit a more demographically representative staff, in collaboration with the Division and NCDOT’s HR and recruiting staff.

The position identifies sources of public and private funding to support its airport support programs and works with partners to pursue them and manage implementation and reporting tasks.

All aspects of this position require identifying and working collaboratively with a wide range of stakeholders, including NCDOT staff, airports, industry, educators and others, to develop and manage programs and initiatives that achieve the goals of the program.

This position writes, edits and proofs materials that relate to the activities of the business development team, including memos, reports, emails, invitations, PowerPoint presentations, Excel spreadsheets and other forms of communication. The position works with Division staff and the NCDOT Communications Officer to publicize initiatives and results and gives presentations to stakeholder groups of all kinds.

This position, along with all Division staff, participates in and contributes to the Division’s strategic planning, tracking and reporting activities focused on advancing the agency’s vision and mission.

The Division seeks a highly professional candidate to effectively manage the duties of the position and relationships with the broad range of internal and external stakeholders required to achieve success. The ideal candidate will be a creative planner, implementer and problem solver who takes initiative and acts effectively so that projects and tasks are completed well and on time.

The program area for this position includes one or more of the following: airport management and operations experience, coordinating and manage programs. working knowledge of North Carolina Airport Technical Assistance Program (NC AirTAP), working knowledge of airport and aviation safety policies or programs, experience writing grants for aviation programs and/or experience with recruitment initiatives for aviation positions.

Qualified Applicants must submit an application that clearly reflects work experience that demonstrates the following:

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  Experience developing and implementing strategic plans and managing programs.
• Experience engaging and mobilizing staff, contractors, volunteers and stakeholders to achieve a common vision and goal.
• Experience reporting effectively in writing and in person with diverse audiences.
• Experience developing and managing multiple projects.
• Proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, Teams).

Bachelor's degree from an appropriately accredited institution and three (3) years of experience in the program related to the area of assignment; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.