Director of Partnerships; REMOTE

We are seeking a Director of Partnerships for a full time and direct hire role for one of our amazing partners in the travel & tour industry.
This role is remote, but living is Southern California is preferred. You MUST be living in the United States, and you MUST be a US Citizen or Green Card Holder. This role does NOT offer sponsorship, it's NOT a consulting role, and we do NOT work with 3rd parties!

Overview:

Our client is a growing travel company expanding its presence across the U.S. travel advisor and partnership ecosystem. They are looking for a Director of Partnerships with deep knowledge of the U.S. travel advisor landscape, established industry relationships, strong commercial instincts, and a track record of building partnerships that generate profitable revenue. You will build and scale this channel into a significant driver of revenue and long-term growth.

This leader will develop relationships with major travel advisor organizations, host agencies, consortia, national and regional agency networks, AAA organizations, and other strategic partners. This is a hands-on, highly visible leadership role. You'll own the partnership strategy and commercial plan while personally managing key national relationships. At the same time, you'll work closely with a 30+ person Business Development team to activate partners at the local level and turn relationships into measurable production.

This is an opportunity to build a major growth channel from the ground up and have significant influence over the company's partnership strategy. You'll have direct access to senior leadership, ownership of important national relationships, and the opportunity to shape how the organization works with the travel advisor community. This is more than managing existing accounts. It's an opportunity to build partnerships, create a scalable channel, and directly influence revenue growth.

Success in this role will be reflected in:

• Revenue and contribution profit generated through the partnership channel.
• Growth and quality of the national partnership and key-account pipeline.
• New strategic partnerships secured and successfully launched.
• Revenue and production generated by new and existing partners.
• Strong partner engagement, activation, and retention.
• Effective adoption and execution by the field sales organization.
• Improved visibility into pipeline, forecasts, partner performance, and ROI.
• Successful coordination across Sales, Marketing, Operations, Product, Technology, and other internal teams.

Responsibilities:

Partnership Strategy & Growth

• Develop and execute the strategy for expanding the company's travel advisor and strategic partnership channel.
• Build annual operating plans, budgets, revenue targets, and investment priorities.
• Identify and prioritize the partnerships and markets with the greatest growth potential.
• Monitor channel performance and adjust strategy based on revenue, profitability, pipeline, and market opportunity.

National Partnerships & Key Accounts

• Build and manage a pipeline of high-value partnership opportunities.
• Develop relationships with senior executives, owners, and decision-makers across priority organizations.
• Lead the full partnership process, from initial outreach and business development through business cases, negotiation, contracting, launch, and ongoing growth.
• Personally manage major national partnerships and selected strategic accounts.
• Develop joint business plans, executive reviews, growth strategies, and renewal plans.
• Establish appropriate partner economics across commissions, marketing, inventory, service, technology, and reporting.

Build the Partner Experience

• Work cross-functionally to ensure the organization is prepared to support and scale new partnerships.
• Partner with Operations, Product, Inventory, Client Services, Technology, and Marketing to address operational requirements and remove barriers to growth.
• Help define the tools, processes, service standards, reporting, and technology needed to create a strong partner experience.
• Translate partner needs into clear internal priorities while maintaining sound economics and operational discipline.

Activate the Field Sales Team

• Establish clear roles between national partnership management and local Business Development activity.
• Partner with Sales leadership to equip and mobilize 30+ BDMs to develop local relationships and drive advisor engagement.
• Establish expectations, sales routines, training, and accountability around partner activation.
• Ensure the field team is building…