Sr. Director, Flights Commercial Partnerships

KAYAK•Cambridge, MA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

KAYAK, part of Booking Holdings (NASDAQ: BKNG), is a leading travel search engine. With billions of queries across our platforms, we help people find their perfect flight, stay, rental car and vacation package. We're also transforming business travel with a new corporate travel solution, KAYAK for Business. As an employee of KAYAK, you will be part of a travel company that operates a portfolio of global metasearch brands including momondo, Cheapflights and HotelsCombined, among others. From start-up to industry leader, innovation is at our core and every employee has an opportunity to make their mark. Our focus is on building the best travel search engine to make it easier for everyone to experience the world. KAYAK is seeking a Senior Director, Flight Commercial Partnerships to lead and scale our North American flight commercial strategy. This role drives revenue growth, margin optimization, and long-term strategic value across airline, OTA, consolidator, ancillary and distribution partnerships throughout the region. You will lead the full commercial lifecycle for flight partnerships in NORAM — from strategy and deal structuring to execution, optimization, and long-term relationship management. The ideal candidate combines deep travel distribution expertise with strong analytical capabilities and a sophisticated understanding of airline revenue management, OTA economics, and fare systems infrastructure. If you are a pragmatic problem solver who questions assumptions, spots structural inefficiencies, and creates commercially viable solutions that unlock revenue and competitive advantage - we’d love to hear from you! This role will be required to work from our Cambridge, MA office at least 3 days per week.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in airline distribution, OTA commercial leadership, travel technology, or flight marketplace strategy
Solid understanding of the air industry and economics across the value chain
Proven track record negotiating complex, high-value commercial agreements
Strong analytical capability with experience in financial modeling, revenue forecasting, and performance optimization
Technical fluency in airfare distribution systems and branded fare merchandising
Strong executive presence with the ability to influence C-level stakeholders
Strategic thinking skills to balance long-term partnership value with near-term performance impact
Experience leading high-performing teams

Responsibilities

Develop and execute KAYAK’s NORAM flight commercial strategy across airlines, OTAs, consolidators, and emerging distribution models
Drive revenue and marketplace competitiveness through optimized commercial models, leading complex negotiations from strategy and goal alignment to execution
Identify growth opportunities across both OTAs and direct airline partnerships, including NDC, EDIFACT/GDS channels, direct APIs and hybrid distribution models
Analyze performance at route, carrier, and point-of-sale levels to inform negotiation strategy and commercial prioritization
Solve marketplace challenges with creative, data-driven commercial strategies that go beyond standard industry playbooks and create mutual value for KAYAK and its partners
Work with internal teams and external partners to improve connectivity, content parity and accuracy, fare mapping and competitiveness and merchandising performance
Build and maintain strong relationships with executives and key decision-makers at our most important current and prospective partner companies
Collaborate with product and marketing teams to improve user experience and conversion, while driving results for our partners including yield, attachment, up-sells and more
Lead and develop a high-performing flight and ancillary commercial team
Provide strategic guidance and insights to the executive team on market trends, competitive intelligence, and new opportunities for growth
Represent KAYAK as a senior commercial leader in industry forums and strategic partner engagements

Benefits

Work from (almost) anywhere for up to 20 days per year
Focus on mental health and well-being:
Company-paid therapy sessions through SpringHealth
Company-paid subscription to HeadSpace
Company-wide week off a year - the whole team fully recharges (and returns without a pile-up of work!)
No meeting Fridays
Paid parental leave
Generous paid vacation + time off for your birthday
Paid volunteer time
Focus on your career growth:
Development Dollars
Leadership development
Access to thousands of on-demand e-learnings
Travel Discounts
Employee Resource Groups
Competitive retirement and health plans
Free lunch 2 days per week
Fun quarterly events such as boat trips, arcades, ski trips, Thursday happy hours, and more
We offer a competitive base salary and benefits including: health benefits; flexible spending account; retirement benefits; life insurance; paid time off (including PTO, paid sick leave, medical leave, bereavement leave, floating holidays and paid holidays); and parental leave benefits.