Air Category Manager

Festive Road • Seattle, WA

10d • $125,000 - $130,000 • Onsite

About The Position

Festive Road is hiring an Air Category Manager to support a client’s Global Category Management Team in developing a best-in-class air travel program. The role focuses on airline supplier management, category strategy, sourcing, commercial analysis, performance measurement, 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 salary band is USD 125,000–130,000. Applicants must upload a cover letter in the same document as their resume.

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 meeting suppliers, and other travel technologies.
• Strong understanding of the different functions 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 associated industry acronyms.
• Strong understanding of airline corporate contracting and related legal processes.
• Hands-on experience with Microsoft Office and project management tools.
• Strong airline supplier management skills, including relationship management, governance, business planning, contract performance, and management of SLAs and KPIs.
• Strong analytical capability, including interpreting multiple data sources, identifying insights, and using data for commercial decisions.
• Strong sourcing and procurement skills, applying data and analysis throughout the end-to-end sourcing process.
• Strong relationship-building and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to partner effectively and lead through influence.
• Ability to assess options, understand commercial implications, and identify opportunities to create value.
• Ability to collaborate across teams, identify synergies, and bring people together around shared outcomes.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including building business cases, presenting recommendations, and influencing decisions.
• Experience establishing new ways of working through processes, tools, or technology that improve information flow and engagement.
• Ability to prioritize and remain composed in a fast-paced, multi-project environment.

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 support informed decisions and leadership buy-in.
• Assess existing contract performance, identify customer service issues, recommend resolutions, and contribute data to global airline projects.
• Support sourcing events from market research and requirements development through implementation.
• Perform cost and savings analysis, model alternatives, develop decision-making 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 new technology rollouts with the wider travel team, monitor adoption, and identify improvement opportunities.

What This Job Offers

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