Product Executive - East Sussex

Experience Education; Lewes; Hybrid; GBP 25,000 - 35,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading educational travel company in the UK is seeking an individual to provide administrative support for school tours. The role involves sourcing and booking accommodations, managing reservations, and negotiating rates with suppliers. Candidates should possess strong organizational skills, commercial acumen, and ideally, knowledge of German and the Benelux region. This position offers a hybrid working pattern and various benefits, including an annual bonus and opportunities for overseas travel.

Benefits

Annual bonus scheme

Opportunities for overseas travel

25 days annual leave plus public holidays

In-house training opportunities

Employee discounts

Qualifications

• Strong commercial acumen and adaptable under pressure.
• Excellent organizational and planning skills.
• Strong negotiation skills and able to build relationships.

Responsibilities

• Source and book accommodations for groups.
• Manage reservations and confirm bookings.
• Negotiate rates with suppliers and maintain relations.

Skills

Commercial acumen

Organisational skills

Negotiation skills

Geographical knowledge of Europe

German language skills

Microsoft Office

Effective communication

Job description

About TravelBound

With more than 30 years’ experience, TravelBound are the industry leaders in high quality, subject‑led tours for schools, universities, colleges, and clubs.

With bespoke itineraries to incredible worldwide destinations, and their exclusive Chateau du Molay in Normandy, TravelBound tailor every tour to meet your specific educational and cultural requirements.

Whether it’s a History Trip to New York & Washington, introducing Art & Design students to Paris, or organising orchestra and choir performance tours in Italy, every detail will be taken care of to create a truly tailormade, inspiring learning experience.

What you’ll be doing

• Working as part of the school tours Product and Contracting and Procurement team, and closely with all members of both the Sales and Tour Coordinator Teams this administrative role will provide vital support in obtaining and managing accommodation, excursion and overseas transport for given destinations.
• On a daily basis the role will source and book accommodations for our groups including managing the reservations until the booking is confirmed.
• There is a requirement to research and source suppliers for new product items.
• This role forms a pivotal part of the sales and operations process within TravelBound.
• The individual will build excellent product knowledge to assist the sales and operational teams.

Key Accountabilities

• Accommodation Requests – Working closely with the sales team the role involves sourcing and securing accommodation for provisional bookings.
• Booking Confirmation – Monitoring accommodation bookings, confirming reservations and managing deposits and payments as appropriate.
• Negotiating rates with Suppliers and ensuring Health and Safety Regulations are met.
• Sourcing suppliers and pricing for new product items.
• Working with the Commercial department to ensure all units and prices are loaded on the Travelink Reservation System.
• Ensuring this system is updated on an annual and ad hoc basis.
• Supplier Relations – Maintain good relations with our overseas suppliers and establish new contacts and new contracts.
• Assisting with researching and building the portfolio of excursions and rates for each destination.
• At the discretion of the line Manager, it may be necessary to work additional hours as and when required.
• Perform other duties as required according to the needs of the business; a flexible approach is required to work duties.
• This role is focused in particular on Germany and Benelux, although destinations can change based on business demand and need.

What we are looking for

• Strong commercial acumen, be adaptable, reliable and flexible, with a responsible attitude and possess the ability to cope under pressure and respond to tight deadlines.
• Excellent organisational and planning skills and good attention to detail.
• Strong negotiation skills and the ability to build effective relationships.
• Ability to deal with competing priorities effectively.
• Self‑motivated and good working under pressure.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office and Excel.
• Strong written, verbal communication and numeracy skills.
• Good geographical knowledge of Europe desirable particularly Germany and the Benelux region.
• German language skill desirable.
• Naturally inquisitive, looking for ways to improve product offering to clients.
• A “can do attitude” able to work independently and as part of a team.

Some of the benefits

Hybrid working pattern between our office and homeworking. Annual Bonus scheme. Opportunities to travel overseas on familiarisation trips. 25 days of annual leave plus public holidays and a bonus day off for your birthday; we also have a tenure based annual leave benefit, up to a maximum of an additional 5 days depending on length of service. Global recognition and reward programme. Access to extensive online learning resources. In‑house training opportunities. Regular social events. Various employee discounts and offers, including discounted trips with our brands. We believe that people are happier and perform best when they are able to be their true selves and that diverse teams deliver better results.

We are committed to building an inclusive culture and embracing diversity in all its dimensions.

This includes inspiring change through increasing awareness of unconscious bias.

Together we will cultivate a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment, where everyone can flourish.