Air Category Manager

Festive Road • Dallas, TX

10d • $125,000 - $130,000 • Onsite

About The Position

Festive Road is seeking an Air Category Manager to support a client’s Global Category Management Team in developing a best-in-class air program. The role focuses on airline supplier management, category strategy, sourcing, commercial analysis, stakeholder relationships, and travel technology improvements. The position is office based in Dallas, Seattle, Arlington, Atlanta, or London, with travel of up to 15%. The stated salary band is USD 125,000–130,000.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field or equivalent experience.
• At least 5 years of experience in the business travel industry managing airline suppliers.
• Experience working with corporate travel management companies, online booking tools, travel and meetings suppliers, and other travel technologies.
• Strong understanding of the components of a global corporate travel team and the dependencies and downstream impacts of initiatives across the team.
• Strong understanding of airline data and analytics, airline savings, and related industry acronyms.
• Strong understanding of airline corporate contracting and the legal processes involved.
• Hands-on experience with Microsoft Office and project management tools.
• Strong airline supplier management skills, including relationship management, governance, business planning, contract performance, and SLA/KPI management.
• Strong analytical capability, including interpreting multiple data sources, identifying insights, and using data for commercial decisions.
• Strong sourcing and procurement skills, including using data and analysis throughout the end-to-end sourcing process.
• Strong relationship-building and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to lead through influence.
• Ability to assess options, understand commercial implications, and identify opportunities to create value.
• Ability to collaborate effectively across teams, identify synergies, and align people around shared outcomes.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including building business cases, presenting recommendations, and influencing decisions.
• Experience establishing improved ways of working through processes, tools, or technologies.
• Ability to prioritize and remain composed in a fast-paced, multi-project environment.
• A cover letter must be uploaded in the same document as the resume; applications without one cannot be considered.

Responsibilities

• Participate in designing and creating category strategic plans, roadmaps, budgets, and resource plans.
• Use data, reports, and performance metrics to contribute to strategic plans, whitepapers, and business reviews, and to inform decisions and gain leadership buy-in.
• Assess existing contract performance, identify customer service issues, recommend resolutions, and provide data for global airline projects.
• Support sourcing events from market research and requirements development through implementation.
• Conduct cost and savings analyses, model alternatives, develop decision criteria and cost estimates, and recommend suppliers.
• Build and maintain relationships with preferred airlines and internal Procurement, Legal, and Finance stakeholders; share best practices and help drive innovation.
• Support rollout of new technologies with the wider travel team, monitor adoption, and identify improvement opportunities.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level