Product Manager

Position:Contracts/Product Manager

Department: Commercial

Reports to:Head of Product

Summary

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced Product Manager to join our hugely successful team to enable play a key role in developing Travel Counsellors’ portfolio of directly contracted hotels. The successful candidate will work pro-actively to:

* Identify product requirements and opportunities to meet the needs of our customers and travel counselors covering the UK and our businesses overseas, which currently include Ireland, Netherlands, South Africa, Australia and Canada;
* Develop our strategy of contracting and promoting hotels recommended/referred by customers and our travel counselors;
* Initiate and maintain excellent working relationships with the targeted hotel partners; and
* Pro-actively promoting the product range to our Travel Counsellors.

You will be passionate about and relate to our values and share our belief in the value of the trusted friendships our Travel Counsellors build with their customers. You will bring to bear that passion for the business by building superb relationships with suppliers where our professionalism, care and commercial acumen will ensure we stand out from the crowd, enabling our agents to compete and grow rapidly our sales with our directly contracted and recommended hotels..

Main Responsibilities

* Managing the contracting process for our portfolio of hotels

* Liaising with all elements of the in-house tour operation – agents, sales team, operations and after sales care to ensure that the quality of the operation in all aspects stands out in comparison to other sources of product the Travel Counsellor may use;

* Liaising with the marketing team to ensure the professional and timely promotion of our directly contracted product using various methods such as print, online, viral marketing and internal promotion to our Travel Counsellors using TCTV (our web TV channel)

* Negotiating the best value added offers, promotions and conditions for Travel Counsellors’ customers

* Responsibility for negotiating marketing contributions for specific events and day to day marketing activity to drive more sales

* Owning the presentation of all contracted products on the in-house system Phenix

* Building and maintaining a network of professional, friendly relationships suppliers Using your established knowledge of destinations and contacts to open doors and bring those relationship to bear for the benefit of Travel Counsellors

* Liaising daily with our Travel Counsellors worldwide to give destination advice, discuss pricing issues, arranging special requests and winning their ‘hearts and minds’ so they believe in and trust in the portfolio of directly contracted hotels.

* Liaising with our General Managers overseas to ensure that we think, act and deliver on an international level.

Person Specification

Experience

Essential:
* A proven Product/Contract Manager experience
* Experience of building relationships with both suppliers and sales agents and demonstrating a commercial track record of driving sales growth
* Experience of contracting for long haul destinations

Skills

Essential:
* Be highly self-motivated
* Excellent communication skills
* Strong negotiation skills
* Team player
* Ability to work to tight deadlines

Personal Attributes

Essential:
* Excellent interpersonal skills with the confidence and ability to communicate effectively and professionally at all times and at all levels