Director, Supplier Relations – Airlines & Insurance

Kensington delivers the world’s most personal travel experiences. We bring to life each client’s desire to travel in a way that’s tailored specifically for them, in the company of local private guides who ensure that they enjoy the authentic best of their destination. The result is a unique journey rich in memories that last a lifetime.

We achieve this because of our extraordinary people, experts with deep knowledge of their destinations. For over 120 countries worldwide, and across each of our brands – Tours, Cruises, Villas, Yachts, Jets, and Air.

To learn more about Kensington, visit kensingtontours.com.

About the Role

The Director, Supplier Relations – Airlines & Insurance holds the pivotal role of managing global sourcing strategies for strategic airline and insurance partners and supporting the Trip-Arc leadership team with analysis and insights. Reporting directly to the Head of Airline/GDS/Insurance Partnerships, this position is tasked with building relationships and executing initiatives that transform our position within the global air and insurance industries while maximizing value across all internal and external stakeholders.

The candidate will orchestrate both strategic and tactical procurement efforts and will leverage industry expertise to secure best in-class content, contracts and commercials. With a focus on fostering a strategic network of supply partners, the Director will capitalize on profit-generating opportunities and ensure sustained growth.

The Director will play a crucial role in shaping the company's air and insurance programs and partnerships to optimize productivity and revenue streams, working closely with the Revenue Optimization and Marketing teams. This involves not only supporting cross-departmental initiatives but also ensuring seamless integration of strategic plans across various organizational functions such as advisory services, operations, sales, finance, and marketing.

The ideal candidate for this role is an exceptionally skilled and adaptable professional, capable of assuming a hands-on approach and driving results in a fast-paced environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Secure contracts with new airline partners for display of air content on the Trip-Arc booking platform; maintain comprehensive contract records.

• Regularly review and renegotiate existing contracts to optimize profitability.

• Achieve annual revenue targets through strategic negotiations and renewals with key airline, ground, and insurance partners.

• Cultivate and nurture relationships with suppliers to ensure sustained engagement and optimal revenue structures.

• Develop and standardize an efficient onboarding process for new partners, ensuring adherence to brand standards.

• Conduct business reviews with partners to drive continuous improvement and strategic alignment.

• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to optimize distribution of supplier contracts and achieve shared objectives.

• Support cross-departmental initiatives and provide strategic analytics on partner performance, forecasting, and opportunities.

• Use data analysis to identify trends and patterns to inform business decisions.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of commercial experience negotiating air, insurance or travel distribution contracts on a global basis in a complex, multi-stakeholder company.

• Domain expertise of air and insurance content, with understanding of various airline distribution contracts – including net rates, fenced rates, and published commissionable rates.

• Proven track record of stakeholder engagement within the global travel industry

• Advanced negotiation skills with a focus on vendor engagement and contract management.

• Strong analytical skills and ability to synthesize large amounts of information for executive-level decision making.

• Experience with corporate, consortium, leisure, and tour operator travel agencies is preferred.

• Excellent business judgment and strategic thinking skills.

• Highly effective project management, prioritization, multi-tasking, and time management skills to meet deadlines and manage a large volume of work in a fast paced, dynamic, high-performance environment.

• Proven business acumen with a systematic, mathematical, analytical approach to problem solving, negotiation and analysis.

• Advanced written and verbal communication skills, including presentation skills and an ability to communicate at all levels, both internally and externally with polish and professionalism.

We are committed to providing employment accommodation in accordance with the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. If you require accommodation due to a disability at any stage of our hiring process, please advise us when completing your application.

The Range Group may use artificial intelligence throughout the recruitment process to screen, assess or select applicants for this position. These tools assist our hiring team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans.

We thank all candidates for their interest however only those selected for an interview will be contacted.