Business Development Director, Travel Partnerships
The Business Development Director, Travel Partnerships is responsible for developing the regional strategy and deal pipeline - and prospecting, signing, and launching new partnerships. This role requires you to be tenacious, creative, collaborative, and eager to tackle long-term challenges.
The partnerships are long term, high value and complex – so whilst you are motivated by targets, at heart you are a relationship builder and problem solver. You will need the ability to build and cultivate relationships with partners across all levels and functions of their organisation; quickly assess the commercial potential of each opportunity; and lead all facets of structuring, negotiating, and closing partnerships. Internally, your success will depend on your ability to develop and leverage strong cross functional partnerships – a highly collaborative approach is a must!
Expedia® Private Label Solutions (PLS) brings the power of Expedia Group to thousands of partners around the world. As Expedia Group’s team focused on building 360 strategic partnerships with key travel companies across the globe, our mission is to create new B2B partnership opportunities and work relentlessly to fuel our partners’ growth. Across the travel sector, we provide partners with the innovative technology, high quality travel supply - spanning lodgings, air, car hire and activities – and best in class rates and availabilities they need to gain a competitive edge.
By offering partners the flexibility to use our products in the way that best suits their business – whether that’s a fully-customizable solution through our APIs, a white label or co-branded template solution or agent booking and service tools – we give them even more opportunities to build the perfect experience for their travellers.
What you’ll do:
- Develop a detailed understanding of Expedia’s products and technology, and strategically and enthusiastically convey these solutions to potential partners
- Track and evaluate partner technology requirements and work with product and technical teams to influence product roadmap prioritisation to deliver to market needs
- Collaborate cross-functionally to work through complex deals with multiple variables, terms, and product requirements
- Conduct detailed quantitative and qualitative analysis to assess viability of potential new business and channel opportunities
- Evaluate connectivity options to amplify necessary distribution channels to penetrate new market opportunities
- Lead deal structuring, commercial negotiations, and drive the contract process in a thorough and efficient manner
- Attend and be the voice of Private Label Solutions (PLS) for our travel partners at relevant industry conferences and events
- Establish positive relationships within Expedia’s supply and operational functions to help operationalize new strategic partnerships
Who you are:
- Bachelor’s degree in a related field; or equivalent related professional experience
- 8+ years of relevant work experience in business development and partnerships in the technology or internet sector
- Strong English Communication skills
- Travel industry experience (especially in airlines industry) , and previous experience with travel technology products and operations strongly preferred
- Demonstrated ability to manage through a long sales cycle or project from start-to-finish
- Relationship builder and cultivator, who assumes good intent and brings positivity to collaborative problem solving
- Capable of handling multiple priorities with a high degree of flexibility and accountability
- Experience creating and negotiating complex commercial models
- Strong critical thinking, and problem-solving skills; able to navigate new and uncharted opportunities or problems with curiosity and boldness
- Effective listening and consultative selling skills
- Excellent communication and public speaking skills, including the creation and presentation of proposals to senior level executives; excellent business writing skills with strong attention to detail
- Ability to travel (c25% of time) and flexible working hours
