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Columbia Helicopters

Heavy-lift helicopter operator and maintenance provider

Senior Manager - Commercial Pricing Strategy

Full-TimeUpdated on 10/15/2026
No salary listed
Senior
Bachelor's
Aurora, OR, USA
In Person
Business & StrategyBusiness Operations

About the job

Requirements
  • A bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Economics, Aviation, Engineering, or a related field.
  • At least five years of experience in pricing, commercial management, finance, program management, business development, or strategy.
  • Experience in aviation, aerospace, maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO), defense, industrial services, or similar industries.
  • Strong financial modeling and business analysis skills.
  • Experience leading cross-functional commercial reviews.
  • Demonstrated experience developing pricing models, cost analyses, and profitability assessments for complex products or services.
  • Experience supporting requests for information (RFIs), requests for quotations (RFQs), requests for proposals (RFPs), contract proposals, and customer negotiations.
  • Strong understanding of cost structures, margin management, forecasting, and return-on-investment analysis.
  • Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and financial modeling tools, with the ability to build and maintain pricing models and business cases.
  • Ability to analyze large datasets and translate findings into actionable commercial strategies.
  • Strong project management skills and ability to manage multiple proposals, priorities, and deadlines simultaneously.
  • Written and verbal communication skills, including ability to present financial and commercial recommendations to executive leadership.
  • Ability to collaborate effectively with Sales, Operations, Engineering, Finance, Supply Chain, and Customer Support teams.
  • Knowledge of contract pricing methodologies, including fixed-price, cost-plus, time-and-materials, and long-term service agreements.
  • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, business acumen, and attention to detail.
Responsibilities
  • Develop and lead the company's pricing strategy, proposal governance, and profitability management across all business lines.
  • Serve as the company's center of excellence for pricing and commercial decision-making, ensuring customer proposals, service offerings, and pricing strategies are competitive, financially sound, operationally achievable, and aligned with growth and profitability objectives.
  • Partner with Sales, Air Operations, Customer Support, MRO, Engineering, Supply Chain, and Finance to maximize revenue, improve margins, and drive commercial discipline.
  • Develop and implement pricing methodologies across Air Operations, MRO Services, Parts Sales, Engineering Services, Technical Support, Training Services, Aircraft Sales, and future service offerings.
  • Establish pricing policies and governance standards; develop consistent pricing methodologies across business lines; define margin targets by service line, customer type, and region; maintain pricing models and tools; ensure pricing reflects operational costs, market conditions, and strategic objectives; and recommend pricing adjustments based on performance and market trends.
  • Serve as commercial lead for pricing major opportunities; support RFIs, RFQs, and RFPs; develop cost estimates and pricing recommendations; build business cases and profitability analyses; review labor, maintenance, mobilization, fuel, logistics, and utilization assumptions; ensure proposals meet target margin requirements; and support customer negotiations through pricing analysis and trade studies.
  • Own pricing methodologies for Air Operations activities, including firefighting, utility, construction, logging, oil and gas, government services, and international operations.
  • Develop flight-hour rate methodologies, daily and availability pricing structures, mobilization and demobilization pricing models, and fuel escalation methodologies; support long-term contract pricing strategies; and analyze aircraft utilization impacts on profitability.
  • Lead pricing strategy for maintenance and support services; develop pricing models for inspections, repairs, overhauls, and engineering services; support long-term maintenance agreements; develop pricing structures for technical support; and improve estimate accuracy and profitability performance.
  • Validate pricing assumptions and margin expectations; ensure alignment between operational capability and commercial commitments; and monitor pricing compliance and approval processes.
  • Develop a structured approach to market pricing intelligence; monitor market rates and competitive positioning; track industry pricing trends; analyze competitor offerings and commercial strategies; support strategic pricing decisions using market data and business analytics; and identify opportunities to improve market position and profitability.

About the company

Columbia Helicopters operates heavy-lift helicopters worldwide and provides depot-level maintenance for aircraft and components for commercial and military customers. Its flight services move oversized loads—such as power line towers, pipelines, steel, and ski lifts—and it supports timber harvesting by helicopter, military operations, petroleum exploration, firefighting, and other missions. The company also offers engine, transmission, hydraulic, avionics, sheet metal, testing, painting, and other on-site or depot maintenance services. Its goal is to deliver reliable, safe heavy-lift transportation and comprehensive aircraft maintenance worldwide while maintaining a long history as a leader in helicopter logging.

Company Size

501-1,000

Company Stage

Acquired

Total Funding

$560M

Headquarters

Aurora, Illinois

Founded

1957

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Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Turkey renewed Columbia's firefighting contract for a fifth consecutive season in April 2025.
  • Helicarrier bought two Model 234 UTs in August 2025, converting surplus inventory to cash.
  • GPMS certified Foresight MX on CH-47D in March 2026 through Columbia partnership.

What critics are saying

  • Coulson sued Columbia in January 2026 over the South Korean firefighting helicopter deal.
  • Melanie Bergier replaced David Balevic in May 2026, signaling leadership churn.
  • If CHI-107-III slips, Columbia stays trapped in shrinking legacy airframe markets.

What makes Columbia Helicopters unique

  • Columbia sells and flies tandem-rotor heavy-lift platforms: Model 234, CH-47D, Model 107-II.
  • Piasecki partnership upgrades the Model 107 into CHI-107-III with 25% more power.
  • FAA-authorized MRO and field-service operations tie upgrades directly to Columbia's sustainment revenue.

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Benefits

Health Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

401(k) Retirement Plan

Paid Vacation

Wellness Program

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

0%

1 year growth

0%

2 year growth

0%
AirMed & Rescue
Aug 25th, 2025
Helicarrier buys two Model 234 UT twin-rotor helicopters

Helicarrier has acquired two Model 234 UT Chinooks from Columbia Helicopters, to support its aerial operations across a number of roles.

Helicopter Investor
Jul 3rd, 2024
Columbia and Piasecki team up to upgrade 107 helicopter

Heavy-lift, tandem rotary specialist Columbia Helicopters is teaming up with Piasecki Aircraft to upgrade its Model 107-II aircraft.

Business Wire
Mar 12th, 2024
Columbia Helicopters Appoints David Balevic As President & Ceo

AURORA, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Columbia Helicopters (“Columbia” or the “Company”) announced today that David Balevic has been appointed President CEO, effective immediately. Balevic will succeed Michael Tremlett, who is departing the company to pursue other opportunities. Columbia Helicopters is a global leader in the heavy and super heavy-lift helicopter sector, with a more than 60-year track record of innovation, technological firsts, and industry milestones. The Company manufactures, provides sustainment services for, and operates the Model 234, CH-47D Chinook, and Model 107-II tandem-rotor helicopters. The Company’s principal customers include the U.S. military, foreign allied militaries, U.S

Business Wire
Mar 12th, 2024
Columbia Helicopters Appoints David Balevic As President Ceo

AURORA, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Columbia Helicopters (“Columbia” or the “Company”) announced today that David Balevic has been appointed President CEO, effective immediately. Balevic will succeed Michael Tremlett, who is departing the company to pursue other opportunities. Columbia Helicopters is a global leader in the heavy and super heavy-lift helicopter sector, with a more than 60-year track record of innovation, technological firsts, and industry milestones. The Company manufactures, provides sustainment services for, and operates the Model 234, CH-47D Chinook, and Model 107-II tandem-rotor helicopters. The Company’s principal customers include the U.S. military, foreign allied militaries, U.S

Annex Business Media
Feb 27th, 2024
News Commercial Columbia Helicopters plans for new model of Commercial Chinook

Columbia Helicopters announced a new development program to redefine Chinook commercial operations worldwide.