Vice President, Aviation - North America

Job Description:

Reporting to the Vice President of Global Logistics, the Vice President of Aviation, North America leads the TransMedics Aviation organization across North America. This is a senior operating role for an executive prepared to set the agenda for North American flight operations, deliver against it, and own the outcome of the largest dedicated organ-transport flight operation in the world.

This leader is the connective tissue between TransMedics' commercial and clinical strategy and the operational reality of executing it. The role translates strategy into flight operations and translates operational reality back into the senior leadership conversation. Credibility with pilots, mechanics, dispatchers, and ground support is earned through technical depth and operating presence; credibility with the CEO and the broader executive team is earned by bringing decisions, solutions, and results.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Regulatory & Safety Leadership

• Serve as TransMedics' FAA Accountable Executive, with full authority and responsibility for the safety, compliance, and performance of the certificate.
• Ensure all operations, safety policies and performance, and personnel adhere to FAA Part 5 (Safety Management Systems) and Part 135 requirements, including disciplined and recurring review of safety policies and risk analysis.
• Establish, evaluate, and continuously improve best-in-class safety, quality, and compliance systems.

Organizational Leadership

• Build, lead, and develop a best-in-class aviation organization with depth across flight operations, maintenance, dispatch, training, and safety, anchored in the highest standards of safety, quality, and service.
• Own the business and operating strategy for the North American Aviation department — define the agenda, secure alignment, and deliver against it.
• Recruit, develop, and retain best-in-class pilots, mechanics, technicians, dispatchers, and ground support staff. Drive accountability for crew operations and efficient pilot management.
• Serve as a steward of TransMedics' culture of high-standard performance and accountability, and build a team genuinely devoted to our mission, vision, and core values.
• Lead the cultural transformation of the flight operations organization as TransMedics matures from a high-growth phase into a disciplined, public-company operating cadence — without losing the urgency that defines our mission.
• Maintain a visible, engaged presence with frontline crewmembers across the hangar, the ramp, and the dispatch center. Operating credibility in this role is earned in the field, not from the executive floor.

Daily Operations & Performance

• Ensure the resources are in place — manpower, equipment, aircraft availability — to execute 24/7/365 mission flying with safety, maintenance, quality, and operational performance as non-negotiable priorities.
• Continuously identify, evaluate, and implement improvements in reliability, cycle time, quality, and cost.
• Lead efficient allocation of manpower, equipment, and aircraft downtime to maintain the fleet and support equipment, ensuring cost, quality, and delivery requirements are met.
• Establish and manage operating performance against clear, aggressive, but achievable targets for cost, quality, reliability, and turnaround time, ensuring on-time placement of serviceable aircraft into TransMedics' operations.
• Ensure maintenance activities are executed with the necessary sense of urgency, effectively, on time, and within budget.

Fleet Strategy, OEM & MRO Relationships

• Establish and personally own the strategic relationship with Embraer, the OEM of TransMedics' fleet, serving as the senior point of contact for OEM partnership, technical roadmap discussions, warranty escalations, and forward-fleet planning.
• Own fleet renewal end-to-end — from strategy through execution. Define the technical and financial thesis governing fleet composition, acquisition timing, disposition timing, and a three-, five-, and ten-year fleet view. Translate that thesis into specific transactions, including purchase negotiation, pre-buy oversight, sale and trade execution, and lifecycle planning, ensuring TransMedics consistently operates one of the youngest and most technologically advanced fleets in dedicated medical transport.
• Maintain strong, productive relationships with in-house and third-party MRO partners — line maintenance, airframe, and components — to ensure a viable supplier base capable of meeting our planned maintenance requirements at the best quality and price.
• Partner effectively with Supply Chain on aviation-specific sourcing needs.
• Maintain current knowledge of industry events, suppliers, competitors, and technical developments. Delegate research on product development and cost-saving measures to capable members of the department.

Financial Stewardship & Cost Control

• Partner closely with Finance and Accounting to ensure rigorous accuracy of parts inventory — both physical count and book value — and the integrity of all aviation-related accounting that flows into the company's reported results. As a publicly traded company, the standard is non-negotiable.
• Exercise disciplined control of fixed and variable cost lines across the aviation P&L, including pilot and crew costs, maintenance, parts, hangar and infrastructure, training, insurance, and overhead, fostering a culture of defensible, well-governed spending without compromising safety or readiness.
• Lead fuel strategy as a senior commercial discipline. Establish and manage direct partnerships with FBO networks and fuel providers to secure pricing meaningfully below spot market by leveraging TransMedics' fleet size and 24/7 North American volume. Fuel is a strategic line item, not a pass-through cost.

Cross-Functional Partnership & Continuous Operational Redesign

• Partner continuously with the TransMedics Command Center and Clinical Leadership teams to redesign how the operation runs as volumes grow exponentially and the network evolves. The expectation is forward-leaning leadership in re-engineering the operation rather than reactive service delivery; the operating model that has carried us to this point will not be sufficient for the next phase of growth.
• Champion the double-shifting initiative as a core lever for capacity expansion, partnering with the Command Center and crew planning to operationalize it safely, in full regulatory compliance, and at scale.
• Generate, evaluate, and pressure-test innovative approaches — including unconventional ones — to expand effective capacity, improve efficiency, and reduce aviation cost per mission, with the standing requirement that any approach be fully legal and FAA-compliant. The expectation is that this leader brings options to the table rather than only operating within the ones inherited.

Strategic Enablement

• Provide aviation technical leadership to the integration of new geographies into the TransMedics business. While the geographic-expansion business case is owned elsewhere in the organization, this role is accountable for the aviation feasibility, certification, basing, crewing, and operational readiness components of any new market entry.
• Lead the redevelopment of the TransMedics Flight School, setting the standard for curriculum, instructor caliber, and pipeline strategy. The Flight School is among the most important long-term levers for crew supply, culture, and operating standards, and it sits within this role's mandate.

REQUIREMENTS

• 20+ years of experience in the Aviation Industry in flight operations, with direct accountability for safety, compliance, and operational performance at scale.
• 15+ years of progressive leadership experience.
• FAA Accountable Executive experience, or demonstrable readiness to assume the role on day one.
• Deep working knowledge of FAR Part 135, and Part 5 SMS, with hands-on experience leading through FAA, NTSB, and audit interactions.
• A demonstrated track record of building and leading multi-functional aviation organizations spanning pilots, maintenance, dispatch, training, safety, and ground operations.
• Direct experience with OEM relationship management and aircraft acquisition and disposition, with the executive presence to engage credibly with Embraer, Bombardier, Gulfstream, or equivalent counterparts.
• Proven effectiveness in a public-company environment, including P&L ownership, budgeting and forecasting, fleet capex strategy, inventory accounting integrity, and Board-level communication, with a working partnership orientation toward Finance and Accounting.
• An ATP certificate is preferred but not required; what is required is unambiguous technical credibility with pilots and maintenance professionals.
• Must be based in Massachusetts, with regular travel to operational bases, OEM and MRO partners, and TransMedics commercial sites domestically and internationally.

TransMedics is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, marital status, age, disability or protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

TransMedics is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, marital status, age, disability or protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.