Chief Executive Officer, Denver International Airport

About Our Job

Situated approximately 24 miles northeast of downtown Denver, DEN is the primary air carrier airport serving the region. According to Airports Council International, in 2025, DEN was the fourth busiest airport in the United States and the tenth busiest in the world, serving 82.4 million annual passengers. DEN spans across a 53-square-mile campus, an area twice the size of the island of Manhattan and is the second largest physical airport in the world. The passenger terminal complex is reached via Peña Boulevard, a 12-mile dedicated access road which connects Interstate 70 and intersects with the E-470 toll highway. DEN has six runways—four oriented north-south and two oriented east-west. Five runways are 12,000 feet long and 150 feet wide. The sixth runway is 16,000 feet long and 200 feet wide, providing unrestricted global access for any airline and the ability to accommodate fully loaded jumbo jets, including the Airbus A-380. DEN is a major hub for United, Southwest, and Frontier Airlines, currently supporting more than 43,000 badged employees, 25 commercial airlines, 236 nonstop destinations, and generates an annual economic impact of more than $47 billion for Colorado.

The city is seeking a driven, dynamic, results-oriented leader who will employ strategic and tactical leadership to ensure that DEN remains a strong economic engine for the region, while providing safe and efficient facilities and superior services and amenities to airline, passengers, concessionaires, and other airport stakeholders.

This position is an at will, charter position appointed by the Mayor. The salary for this position is $346,975. We also offer generous benefits for full-time employees which include but are not limited to:

• A guaranteed life-long monthly pension, once vested after 5 years of service

• 457B Retirement Plan

• 140 hours of PTO earned within first year + 12 paid holidays, 1 personal holiday, 1 Wellness Day and 1 volunteer day per year

• Competitive medical, dental and vision plans effective within 1 month of start date

All City and County of Denver Appointee positions will be in-person roles. We believe we can listen better, learn more, and act faster when we are able to build strong relationships in the same physical space. With this in mind, we do our work together in person. We value in-person interactions. Our office is not remote.

Interested applicants must apply through Korn Ferry by emailing your details to View email address on aiapply.co. Apply by September 11th.

About Everything Else

Job Profile

HX1414 Manager Department of Aviation

To view the full job profile including position specifications, physical demands, and probationary period, click here.

Position Type

Unlimited

Position Salary Range

$0.00 - $0.00

Target Pay

Agency

Mayor's Office

Redeployment during Citywide Emergencies

City and County of Denver employees may be re-deployed to work in other capacities in their own agencies or in other city agencies to support core functions of the city during a citywide emergency declared by the Mayor.

The City and County of Denver provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, genetic information, age, or any other status protected under federal, state, and/or local law.

It is your right to access oral or written language assistance, sign language interpretation, real-time captioning via CART, or disability-related accommodations. To request any of these services at no cost to you, please contact View email address on aiapply.co with three business days’ notice.

Applicants for employment with the City and County of Denver must have valid work authorization that does not require sponsorship of a visa for employment authorization in the U.S.

For information about right to work, click here for English or here for Spanish.