Opportunities & Roles

The working environment within HIAL is stimulating and offers a wide variety of employment opportunities. We have roles in a variety of administrative and managerial functions including Finance, IT, Corporate Operational Support and Human Resources, as well as more technical posts in Infrastructure Services and Motor Transport Engineering. In addition, we also recruit to posts that are unique to airports within our Airports Fire Services and Air Traffic Services.

Please follow the links to find out a bit more about what it's like to work in each of these areas.

Airport Fire Service
Our fire crews are there to ensure the safety of everyone at our 11 airports by promoting awareness of fire and its danger, as well as responding to emergency calls. Airport Fire Fighters have very varied roles and do a lot more than fight fires including:

• Maintaining equipment and vehicles;
• Keeping the team aware of aircraft movements and marshalling aircraft;
• Giving first aid;
• Educating and advising others at the airport on safety issues;
• Developing emergency plans;
• Carry out rescues in fire related incidents, including water based rescues;
• Helping local authority crews in other emergency incidents such as road and rail accidents, chemical releases and building collapses.

To carry out this range of duties, our Fire Fighters need to be team players with great people skills and they undertake regular training to keep their skills up to date. They also need to maintain an above average standard of fitness due to the physical nature of some of the work.

Air Traffic Control
Air traffic controllers maintain the safe and orderly movement of aircraft around and into our airports by giving pilots instructions and advice. This involves:

• Keeping radio and/or radar contact with aircraft;
• Directing the movement of aircraft en route or at an airport;
• Instructing aircraft to climb or descend and allocating final cruising level;
• Providing information to aircraft about weather conditions;
• Making sure that minimum distances are maintained between planes;
• Handling unexpected events, emergencies and unscheduled traffic.

Our controllers are based at airport towers, where they guide and sequence aircraft into the most efficient order for landing. This includes dealing with instrument landing systems and making sure that planes are placed in holding patterns when airports are busy. They guide aircraft through landing and to its parking stand at the terminal. They also control movements onto and off runways.

A high standard of numeracy and technical ability is essential to be an Air Traffic Controller. Working as part of a team, you'll need to be organised, able to solve problems and make decisions. You also need to be a logical thinker with good concentration and an ability to respond quickly in emergency situations. And of course you need good spatial awareness, confidence with technology and excellent communication skills.

We're committed to providing new controllers with the opportunity to undertake their training and build their experience and career with HIAL, and so periodically will undertake recruitment from those with no qualifications or experience. Vacancies are posted on our current vacancies section as and when they occur.

Security
Our Security Team are key players in ensuring the safe and smooth running of all our airports. We're always interested in hearing from those interested in joining our team. We provide comprehensive training for all our Security Agents and Supervisors.

Security duties are varied and can include x-ray screening, searching passengers and luggage, airport perimeter security, controlling access to restricted areas and checking travel documents. All our agents work hard to ensure a safe and comfortable environment for all of our passengers and staff.

Our Security Agents work as part of a team on a shift basis, and have good communication skills as they deal with a variety of people and situations.

You'll meet and interact with many people every day, so good communication and interpersonal skills are essential. In addition, to join our security team we need to check your last 5 years residency and employment. We'll also need to check that you have full-colour vision.

Airside Support Services
The smooth running of our airports depends heavily on our airside support staff who make sure that operations run smoothly and safely. Our airside team carry out a variety of duties with safety and customer service our top priorities. Tasks are not limited to but include:

• Aircraft marshalling
• Coordinating and planning aircraft stands
• Baggage handling
• Driving ground support vehicles and providing vehicle escorts
• Airside de-icing and snow clearing
• Aircraft diversion procedures
• Inspecting runways and aprons to ensure that they are free from hazards and safe for aircraft

Good communication skills are essential as you'll need to keep in constant communication with the air traffic control team and other airside users, often by radio. The work is safety critical, so you will spend time assessing risks and analysing hazards. You'll work as part of a team on a shift basis and will undertake regular training to keep your skills up to date.

Non-operational Support Roles
As well as the front facing and more technical roles, we also have a team at work behind the scenes making sure that we run our business as efficiently as possible. We have a variety of roles available, both at entry level and more specialist roles including:

• Finance
• IT
• Human Resources
• Infrastructure Services

In addition, our Motor Transport Engineering section ensures that our vehicles, facilities and services run smoothly at all of our airports.

To find out about our current vacancies please click here.