Hello. We’re Virgin Australia. We’re the airline that’s always done things a little different. Our way. The Virgin way. We’re on a mission to make flying better than ‘nice’. And to do that, it takes a team of talented people who are passionate about customer experience, doing the right thing always, with a focus on safety – in the air, on the ground and in our workplaces. A team who values real diversity and inclusion, in a big brand with big ambitions.

What you’ll be doing

As an Advanced Analytics Manager, you’ll lead a small Advanced Analytics squad within the broader Advanced Analytics team while remaining hands-on in the development and delivery of forecasting, predictive modelling, optimisation, simulation and machine learning tools that support complex airline planning and operational decisions. You’ll work on problems such as schedule robustness, aircraft flows, operational performance, demand forecasting, crewing impacts and cost optimisation.

The role combines technical leadership, people leadership and hands-on delivery. You’ll lead a focused squad of 2–3 direct reports, help shape squad priorities, guide analytical approaches, and personally contribute to modelling, programming and delivery where your expertise is needed. You’ll ensure complex models are translated into decision-support tools and production-grade applications used by operators, planners and business teams in an operating environment.

Further responsibilities include:

• Lead, coach and develop a small squad of advanced analytics specialists, combining operations research, mathematical optimisation, data science and commercial analysis.
• Set priorities for your squad, balancing business value, operational impact, technical quality and delivery feasibility.
• Translate ambiguous operational and commercial problems into analytical problem statements, modelling approaches and decision-support requirements.
• Define and track success measures for advanced analytics tools and recommendations, ensuring the squad’s work delivers measurable operational or commercial impact.
• Lead and contribute to  forecasting, predictive,  simulation, and driver-based models to understand operational performance, demand, route profitability, event impacts and schedule robustness, translating complex operational data into actionable insights.
• Develop, guide and review analytical approaches using techniques such as statistical modelling, machine learning, simulation, linear programming and heuristic search, applying them to airline operations, network planning and commercial decision-making where appropriate.
• Build, review and help maintain analytical decision-support applications using C++, Python and R.
• Leverage cloud technologies such as Databricks to streamline data processing, model development and deployment.
• Identify opportunities for automation, scalability and responsible use of AI in analytical workflows.
• Lead delivery and adoption of decision-support applications, dashboards and visual interfaces, ensuring solutions are practical, trusted, and embedded into daily workflows for operators, planners and business teams.
• Ensure high standards of data integrity, documentation, model validation, peer review, reproducibility and governance across the squad’s analytics outputs.
• Partner with stakeholders across Operations, Network Planning and Commercial teams to translate analytical results into practical decisions and strategic action.

You’ll be great in this role if you have…

• Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, Engineering, Computer Science, Operations Research, Economics or a related quantitative field.
• 6+ years’ professional experience in advanced analytics, operations research, optimisation, data science or quantitative modelling within a complex organisation.
• Experience leading, coaching or managing a technical or analytical team.
• Experience delivering Advanced Analytics tools, models or decision-support applications that have been deployed in an operating environment.
• Strong hands-on programming capability in Python, R or C++, with the ability to develop, review and guide analytical code.
• Experience reviewing or governing analytical work produced by others, including assumptions, validation approach, implementation quality and business interpretation.
• Demonstrated ability to lead technical discovery using complex operational data where the problem, constraints, trade-offs or decision criteria are not fully defined upfront. 
• Experience building or leading forecasting, predictive modelling or machine learning approaches to support operational or commercial decision-making.
• Experience building or leading decision-support tools or analytical applications for operational or commercial users.
• Experience with SQL, relational databases and large operational datasets.
• Strong communication and stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to build credibility with senior stakeholders by explaining technical findings, business trade-offs, uncertainty, limitations and recommended actions clearly.
• Ability to balance hands-on technical delivery with people leadership, manage multiple priorities and make sound trade-offs in a dynamic environment.

Highly regarded:

• Experience formulating and solving optimisation or simulation problems, such as linear programming, mixed-integer programming, nonlinear optimisation, discrete-event simulation, column generation, metaheuristics or heuristic search.
• Experience with optimisation solvers or libraries such as Gurobi, CPLEX, HiGHS, OR-Tools or equivalent.
• Experience with Databricks or equivalent modern data platforms.
• Proficiency with AI-supported coding tools such as Codex, and the ability to use them responsibly to improve development productivity, code quality and analytical workflow efficiency.
• Experience with data visualisation or application tools such as Power BI, Tableau, Shiny or similar.
• Airline, transport, logistics, network planning, scheduling, revenue management or complex operations experience.

We’re committed to looking after you, with some of the best benefits and conditions in the industry – including (but not limited to):

• Discounted flights for you and your loved ones (including $1000 worth of travel credits per year)
• A flexible, hybrid work style. Work from home or the office, adapt your location to suit your style and needs
• One of Brisbane’s most admired head office locations, with South Bank train station, a supermarket, pharmacy, and lunch options downstairs plus a 5-minute walk to the Busway, a rooftop restaurant and onsite gym (with a low membership fee) and South Bank Parklands just across the road
• Discounts on travel insurance, lounge membership, car hire, accommodation, and experiences worldwide
• Cheaper hospitality, retail, technology, beauty and wellness services
• Free counselling and access to a wellbeing app to support your physical, mental, social and financial health
• ‘Dress for Your Day’ – enjoy the freedom to wear whatever makes you feel great for the type of work you do and the day you have ahead of you.

When everyone is included, everyone wins

We’re all individuals. And we love that. That’s why we encourage applications from Indigenous Australians, people with disability, those from diverse cultural backgrounds, our friends in the LGBTQI+ community, and anyone else who wants to join our family.

Ready to apply?

We’re ready to hear from you. Apply now.