Partnerships Growth Manager

Job description

Why loveholidays? At loveholidays - we trailblaze together. We’re on a mission to open the world to everyone, giving our customers’ unlimited choice, unmatched ease and unmissable value for their next getaway. Our team is the driving force behind our role as our customers’ personal holiday expert - the smart way to get away. We’re using progressive tech to drive cutting-edge innovation and open the world to everyone. Within our Commercial and Support teams, you'll find a place to accelerate your growth by actively seeking learning opportunities and carving your own path. You'll create impact for our future by owning projects and shaping the business strategy to reach shared goals, all within our enhanced international community of collaborative and passionate teams. The impact you’ll have: Reporting to the Senior Director of Partnerships, the Partnerships Growth Manager will sit within the New Business function of Partnerships. You will find new partners that loveholidays does not currently work with, qualify them against our commercial criteria, build the relationship and close the deal. You will manage both outbound prospecting and inbound interest from potential partners, including RFPs. Once a new partner is signed and live, you will retain ownership through the early-life period, ensuring the commercial momentum built during acquisition is maintained through integration and first trading. At a defined milestone, partners may be handed over to the Partner Success team for long-term growth. You will work closely with Product and Tech from the earliest stage where required. Commercial fit and technical fit need to be assessed together, so you will need to speak credibly about both. Your day-to-day: Partner Prospecting: - Build and maintain a live, prioritised pipeline of target partners using CRM software, segmented by partner type, geography and estimated commercial potential - Identify new partner verticals loveholidays could work with and build a systematic approach to reaching them - Research target organisations, identify the right commercial contacts and build relationships before a formal process begins - Qualify opportunities rigorously, knowing which leads are worth pursuing and which are not - Own the response to inbound partner enquiries, including RFPs, assessing commercial fit quickly and progressing qualified opportunities - Convert inbound interest into commercial momentum - Manage inbound and outbound opportunities through a consistent qualification framework so pipeline reporting is accurate and actionable Commercial negotiation and deal closure: - Lead commercial negotiations for new partnerships, from initial commercial framework through to signed agreement - Structure deals that lead with the loveholidays proposition and product - Build simple, robust and scalable commercial structures that optimise for margin quality from day one - Escalate opportunities requiring senior-level commercial engagement or sign-off to the Senior Director of Partnerships - Present the loveholidays commercial proposition clearly in terms of what the partner earns, not just what loveholidays offers Partner onboarding and early-life management: - Own the post-signature onboarding process in partnership with Product and Tech, ensuring the integration is live and performing before handoff - Set commercial margin and booking targets for each new partner during the early-life period - Track performance against early-life commercial targets - Prepare a full commercial handoff brief covering partner profile, integration status, commercial targets and growth plan - Maintain accountability for new partner performance on the New Business P&L until the handoff milestone is formally reached Pipeline and market intelligence: - Maintain accurate and up-to-date pipeline reporting so senior management has a clear view of opportunities, stage and realistic commercial value - Feed market intelligence back into the business, including growing partner categories, competitor activity and product improvements needed to win new partnerships - Provide a continuous feedback loop with Product and Tech around potential partner requirements to ensure our product roadmap gives us what we need in the most scalable way - Represent loveholidays externally at relevant industry events and conferences - Establish loveholidays’ presence in relevant partner forums and trade environments Your skillset: Experience - Demonstrable track record of winning new business in a B2B commercial environment - Evidence of deals you have originated, pursued and closed, not only accounts you have inherited - Experience working with commercially complex products where the sale involves multiple stakeholders and a technical integration element - Relevant sector experience could include travel distribution, travel trade, consortia, OTA, metasearch, SaaS, API-based platforms or similar - Comfort with longer sales cycles and structured partner acquisition - Experience managing outbound prospecting and inbound pipeline at the same time - Proven ability to lead a commercial negotiation from first conversation to signed agreement - Experience building and using sales materials that clearly communicate product value, commercial benefit and cultural fit Profile - A self-starter who builds their own pipeline rather than waiting for a list of targets - Commercially curious, with the ability to understand what drives a potential partner’s business before pitching - Disciplined in pipeline management, with accurate reporting, honest assessments and trusted forecasts - Confident qualifying opportunities quickly and honestly, including knowing when to walk away - Persistent without being pushy, able to stay in front of prospects over a long cycle without damaging the relationship - Comfortable working closely with Product and Tech, combining commercial ownership with technical input - Able to structure deals with margin quality as a primary filter, not just booking volume or gross revenue - Clear and credible in external partner meetings, industry events and senior commercial conversations Desirable: - Working understanding of API or white-label product distribution - Ability to assess a partner’s technical integration profile and understand how it affects the commercial opportunity - Experience working alongside technical solutions, product or engineering teams in a partner-facing sales process - Experience in travel distribution, travel trade, consortia, OTA, metasearch or another travel technology environment - Experience taking new partners through onboarding, early trading and formal handoff into a success or account management team - Experience working across multiple markets - Business fluency in German The interview journey: 1. Intro to loveholidays with Talent Acquisition (30 mins) 2. Meet with Hiring Manager (45 mins) 3. Onsite task/presentation (60-90 mins) Perks of joining us: - Company pension contributions at 5%. - Individualised training budget for you to learn on the job and level yourself up. - Discounted holidays for you, your family and friends. - 25 days of holidays per annum (plus 8 public holidays) increases by 1 day for every second year of service, up to a maximum 30 days per annum. - Ability to buy and sell annual leave. - Cycle to work scheme, season ticket loan and eye care vouchers. At loveholidays, we focus on developing an inclusive culture and environment that encourages personal growth and collective success. Each individual offers unique perspectives and ideas that increase the diversity and effectiveness of our teams. And we value the insight and potential you could bring on our continued journey.