Business Development Manager, Partnerships (Bókun)

TripAdvisor; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation

Remote-friendly working model

Flexible schedule

Job summary

Tripadvisor Group, via its Bókun subsidiary, is expanding its Partnerships team and seeking a driven Business Development Manager to build and close strategic partnerships across SaaS, marketplaces, and travel tech.

You will own the pipeline from outreach to negotiation, engaging founders to C-suite executives, and delivering measurable value for Bókun. This role is remote-friendly with optional on-site collaboration.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of business development / sales experience in SaaS, marketplaces, or travel tech.
• Proven track record of sourcing and closing deals, not just managing existing ones.
• Strong presenting, pitching and negotiating with C-suite stakeholders.
• Hunter mentality with ability to build pipeline and close opportunities.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills in English.

Responsibilities

• Build and run your own pipeline of prospective partners across Bókun's partnership types.
• Lead meetings and negotiations with partners and stakeholders from founders to enterprise decision-makers.
• Represent Bókun's partnership value proposition in every conversation.
• Maintain and grow commercial relationships after closing deals.
• Track and report pipeline and closed business against sales targets.
• Collaborate across channels and improve our negotiation templates and processes.

Skills

Business development

Sales

Negotiation

Presenting/Pitching

English (near-native)

Job description

About Tripadvisor

The Tripadvisor Group connects people to experiences worth sharing, and aims to be the world's most trusted source for travel and experiences. We leverage our brands, technology, and capabilities to connect our global audience with partners through rich content, travel guidance, and two-sided marketplaces for experiences, accommodations, restaurants, and other travel categories. The subsidiaries of Tripadvisor, Inc. (Nasdaq: TRIP), include a portfolio of travel brands and businesses, including Tripadvisor, Viator, and TheFork.

About Bókun

Bókun, a fast-growing subsidiary of Tripadvisor Inc., is a leading reservation system and channel management platform for tours and activities operators globally that enables them to streamline their back-end operations and connect to an ecosystem of online travel agents to grow their business. At Bókun, we are committed to delivering innovative solutions that empower our clients to grow their businesses and enhance customer experiences. As a key player in travel technology, Bókun combines the agility of a startup with the stability of a publicly traded organisation.

About the role

We're growing our Partnerships team and looking for a driven, closer-first Business Development Manager to join our existing partnerships team.

Key Responsibilities

• New business & deal-closing: Build and run your own pipeline of prospective partners across Bókun's partnership types, from first outreach through negotiation to signed contract.
• Lead meetings and negotiations with partners and stakeholders at every seniority level - from founders to enterprise decision-makers - and close agreements that drive measurable value for Bókun.
• Represent Bókun's full partnerships value proposition in every conversation: you're selling Bókun first, a specific partnership type second.
• Relationship growth (once a deal is signed): Maintain and grow the commercial relationships you build, ensuring partners stay engaged and continue to deliver value for Bókun.
• Track and report your pipeline and closed business against clear sales targets.
• Cross-partnership & infrastructure: Flex across all partnership types as priorities shift - this is not a single-programme role.
• Contribute to improving our commercial templates, negotiation playbook and partnerships process more broadly.

Qualifications

• At least 5 years of business development / sales experience, ideally in SaaS, marketplaces, or travel technology - a proven track record of sourcing and closing your own deals, not just managing existing ones.
• Confident and polished presenting, pitching and negotiating with stakeholders at every seniority level, from founders to C-suite/director-level executives.
• Strong contract negotiation skills - comfortable owning commercial terms through to signature.
• A genuine hunter: motivated by building pipeline and closing, not solely by managing what's already signed.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication and negotiation skills, with near-native business English.
• Nice to have: experience in the tours & activities / experiences industry.
• Nice to have: understanding of how two-sided marketplaces work (balancing supply and demand sides) - deep reseller-programme or API/connectivity knowledge is not required and can be learned on the job.
• Comfortable working in a small, fast-moving team where priorities shift and you'll be asked to cover ground outside your core remit.
• Other European languages are a plus.
• A strategic thinker with strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities; self-motivated and able to work independently in a fast-paced environment.
• Demonstrated ability to use AI tools to improve efficiency, quality, and decision-making in day-to-day work.
• Proven ability to operate effectively with a global-first mindset.

What We Offer

• Competitive compensation packages (routinely benchmarked against the latest industry data), including base salary and annual bonuses
• "Work your way" with flexibility to suit your lifestyle. Tripadvisor Group takes a remote-friendly approach to collaboration across a worldwide team, with the option to join on-site as often as you’d like or as required by your team.
• Flexible schedule. Work-life balance is ingrained in our culture by design. Trust an