Air Category Manager

Our purpose at Festive Road is simple; to create better travel and meetings management. Our client’s purpose is one of bold ambition; to transform its program into an industry leading premiere travel and events solution, which will redefine business travel standards and expectations. If that sounds like something you’d like to be a part of, read on!

Role: Air Category Manager

Location: Office based (Dallas TX, Seattle WA, Arlington VA, Atlanta GA or London UK)

Ability to travel: Up to 15%

Salary band: 125k - 130k USD

Are you excited to join a global team that is focused on developing best-in-class travel programs for their employees? This is a unique opportunity to support our client's Global Category Management Team to drive a best-in-class air program.

Nothing about this role is average. We need a driven Air Category Manager with a can-do attitude, who can get things across the line from idea to design to completion with minimal oversight. So, if this sounds exciting, let’s talk!

Key Responsibilities will include:

• Category Strategy & Planning
  You will have a strong understanding of airline supplier management, business strategies and goals, and how category management contributes to these. You will participate in the design and creation of strategic plans, roadmaps, budgets and resource planning.
• Data, Insights & Decision-Making
  You will use key data, reports and performance metrics to contribute to strategic plans, whitepapers and business reviews, helping to inform and influence decision-making and gain leadership buy-in.
• Supplier & Contract Performance
  Using your natural analytical and category management skills, you will assess the performance of existing contracts, highlight customer service issues and recommend resolutions. You will also contribute relevant data to support global airline projects.
• Sourcing & Commercial Analysis
  You will support sourcing events from researching the market and building out requirements through to implementation. You will undertake cost and savings analysis to support data-based decision-making, model alternative options and build decision-making criteria, including cost estimates and supplier recommendations.
• Supplier & Stakeholder Relationships
  As a natural business partner, you will develop and maintain strong relationships with preferred airlines and internal stakeholders across Procurement, Legal and Finance, sharing and leveraging best practice and helping to drive innovation.
• Technology & Continuous Improvement
  You will work with the wider travel team to support the rollout of new technologies, monitor adoption and identify areas for improvement.

Key Skills Required:

• Airline Supplier Management – Strong supplier management skills, including relationship management, governance, business planning, contract performance and management of SLAs/KPIs.
• Data & Analytics – Strong analytical capability, with the ability to interpret multiple data sources, identify insights and use data to support commercial decision-making.
• Strategic Sourcing – Strong sourcing and procurement skills, with the ability to use data and analysis throughout the end-to-end sourcing process.
• Business Partnering – Strong relationship-building and stakeholder management skills, with the gravitas to partner effectively and lead through influence.
• Commercial Thinking – The ability to assess options, understand commercial implications and identify opportunities to create value.
• Cross-functional Collaboration – The ability to work effectively across different teams, identify synergies and bring people together around shared outcomes.

• An exceptional communicator - Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to build compelling business cases, present recommendations and influence decision-making.

• A drive to optimise - Experienced at establishing new ways of working by implementing either new processes, tools, or technologies to ensure optimal information flow and engagement.
• A calm operator - Able to keep a cool head and prioritise while working in a fast-paced, multi-project environment.

Experience Required:

• Bachelor's degree in a related field or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years’ experience in the business travel industry managing airline suppliers.
• Experience working with corporate travel management companies, online booking tools, travel and meeting supply base, and other travel technologies.
• A strong understanding of the different working parts of a global corporate travel team, along with the dependencies and downstream impacts of initiatives on different parts of the team.
• A strong understanding of airline data & analytics, airline savings and associated industry acronyms.
• A strong understanding of airline corporate contracting and the legal processes involved.
• Hands-on experience with Microsoft Office and project management tools.

Don’t meet every single requirement? Here at Festive Road, we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Please note, there is a requirement for you to upload a cover letter in the same document as your resume to apply for this role. Without this, we cannot consider your application.