Head of Rostering & Support Services

NATS is the UK’s leading air navigation service provider, handling over 2.4 million flights each year. We provide air traffic control services from two control centres and at airports around the UK. We also provide a wide range of commercial products and solutions internationally. Our people are at the heart of our purpose to advance aviation and keep the skies safe.

The Head of Rostering & Support Services (Prestwick) provides site based leadership at Prestwick Centre, coordinating and driving local senior leadership teams to enhance business performance, strengthen unit identity and build effective relationships with external stakeholders. The role ensures alignment across teams in support of Operations’ business objectives, working collaboratively with Operations, Facility Management, Capital Project &Transformation and Health & Safety.

You will lead the effective deployment of operational resource, ensuring robust governance in roster planning and tactical deployment of Operations Teams. Working closely with stakeholders across Operations, you will balance operational, training and project demands while supporting continuous improvement in all rostering and support service activities.

The role also plays a key part in shaping the Centre’s culture, driving local initiatives, engaging with the community and representing NATS with internal and external partners.

The Opportunity

In this role, you will:

Lead Centre Performance & Culture

• Provide visible, inspiring leadership across both Centres, aligning teams behind shared goals and building a strong sense of identity and collaboration.

• Represent NATS with community, business and government stakeholders, driving outreach, engagement and local initiatives.

• Act as the senior point of escalation for site based issues and ensure high standards of health, safety and wellbeing.

Drive Operational Resource Strategy

• Oversee the full lifecycle of operational rostering and deployment (ATCO and ATSA), ensuring efficient use of resources in a complex, regulated environment.

• Collaborate across Operations to balance operational, training and project demands.

• Maintain governance, compliance and continuous improvement in all rostering processes.

Deliver Business & Operational Excellence

• Lead business planning, risk management and continuous improvement for Service Delivery.

• Analyse performance metrics and drive outcomes that support operational priorities.

• Partner with senior leaders across the organisation to enhance consistency, integration and delivery.

Champion Change & Transformation

• Drive centre-wide improvement initiatives, enhancing ways of working and enabling service excellence.

• Support incident management, business continuity and strategic change activities.

Lead & Develop High-Performing Teams

• Coach, motivate and develop cross-functional teams to deliver their best.

• Build trusted relationships with trade unions and internal partners.

• Foster an inclusive, engaged and high-energy environment.

• You will bring significant leadership experience from a complex, multistakeholder operational environment, with the credibility to influence across functions and drive improved ways of working. You will be educated to degree level or able to demonstrate equivalent expertise.

• You will be an accomplished operational or business leader, ideally with experience within a major enterprise, and will have strong business acumen with proven capability in workforce rostering and delivering continuous improvement in complex environments.

• Experience of the UK regulatory and political landscape is advantageous, along with wider exposure to safety in the aviation sector such as ANSPs, airports, airlines or infrastructure planning.

• You will have a strong track record of leading people and process driven improvement, and of working effectively with trade unions to deliver change in highly unionised environments.

• Skilled in building trusted relationships, you will be able to navigate competing priorities, influence diverse stakeholders and lead through ambiguity with confidence and clarity.

Additional Vacancy Information

We have adopted agile working to provide greater flexibility and increased choice over working arrangements, with the opportunity for this role to work in our modern office facilities as well as remotely. This role will require a minimum of 4 days onsite.

If you share our passion to advance aviation and keep the skies safe – we would like to hear from you whatever your age, sex, race, faith, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, visible or invisible disability. Individuals that bring different perspectives, skills, life experiences and backgrounds help us be at the forefront of our industry.