Assistant Manager Distribution Channel Optimisation

Cathay Pacific Airways Limited; Hong Kong; On-site; HKD 900,000 - 1,300,000; Full time

Job summary

Cathay Pacific Airways Limited is seeking an Assistant Manager Distribution Channel Optimisation to drive the optimisation of distribution channels, manage economics, partnerships, and channel performance to support sustainable growth.

The role involves negotiating with distribution partners, overseeing contracts, and mentoring the Distribution Channel team in a fast-paced environment in Hong Kong.

Qualifications

• Strong analytical, communication and negotiation skills.
• Strong understanding of airline distribution management including contracts & cost management.
• Experience representing Cathay to negotiate with distribution partners (e.g., GDS and 3rd party aggregators).

Responsibilities

• Manage strategic distribution vendors’ relationships and partnerships, including GDSs, IT vendors and metasearch partners.
• Enhance cost control monitoring systems to identify unproductive shopping activity while improving channel performance.
• Review and manage distribution contracts to secure favorable terms and alignment of contract flexibilities.
• Manage distribution cost accounts to meet cost targets and channel shift savings.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to develop frameworks to evaluate distribution cost impacts and track performance.
• Lead, coach, and inspire the team to achieve commercial and strategic success.
• Supervise and mentor direct reports, promoting cross-functional collaboration and accountability.
• Uphold Cathay’s core values and model excellence in execution and behaviour.
• Engage employees regarding goals, performance expectations, and growth plans to enhance alignment with priorities.
• Perform any other reasonable tasks to support team development.

Skills

Analytical skills

Communication skills

Negotiation skills

Job description

Cathay Pacific

Sales and Distribution Department

Permanent

Hong Kong SAR (China)

Role Introduction

As the Assistant Manager Distribution Channel Optimisation, you will be responsible for driving the optimisation of Cathay's distribution channels by managing distribution economics, commercial partnerships, channel performance, and search efficiency to support sustainable growth and maximise return on distribution investment.

Key Responsibilities

• Item 1 of 10, Manage strategic distribution vendors’ relationships and partnerships, including Global Distribution Systems (GDSs), Information Technology (IT) vendors and Metasearch partners etc
• Item 2 of 10, Drive enhancement to cost control monitoring systems to identify, prevent and mitigate unproductive shopping activity while improving overall channel performance
• Item 3 of 10, Review and manage distribution contracts to achieve the best terms for Cathay and alignment of each contract’s distribution flexibilities
• Item 4 of 10, Manage the distribution cost accounts to meet distribution cost target and channel shift savings
• Item 5 of 10, Collaborate with cross-functional teams to development implement frameworks to evaluate distribution cost impacts, track performance and identify opportunities to optimize distribution channel
• Item 6 of 10, Lead, support, coach, and inspire the team to achieve commercial and strategic success
• Item 7 of 10, Supervise and mentor direct reports, promoting a culture of effective cross-functional collaboration and shared accountability
• Item 8 of 10, Consistently uphold Cathay’s core values and modelling excellence in execution and behaviour
• Item 9 of 10, Maintain active and ongoing dialogue with team members regarding individual goals, performance expectations, and growth plans, and e ngage employees meaningfully to enhance communication, alignment with departmental objectives, and understanding of strategic priorities
• Item 10 of 10, Perform any other reasonable tasks as required to support team development

Requirements

• Item 1 of 8, Strong understanding and minimum 5 years of experience in airline distribution management including contracts & cost management
• Item 2 of 8, Strong background in distribution dynamics is preferred
• Item 3 of 8, Strong analytical, communication and negotiation skills
• Item 4 of 8, Able to represent Cathay to negotiate with distribution partners (e.g. GDS and 3 rd party aggregators)
• Item 5 of 8, Good understanding of the new distribution capability (NDC) development/ modern airline retailing and its implication on GDS contract & management
• Item 6 of 8, Good understanding on other distribution (e.g. shopping & booking) cost is preferred
• Item 7 of 8, Experience working in cross-functional and matrix environments, collaborating with commercial, technology, and operational stakeholders
• Item 8 of 8, Commercial mindset with strong business judgement and attention to financial impact

Personal & Application Information

Cathay Pacific is an Equal Opportunities Employer. Personal data provided by job applicants will be used strictly in accordance with our Applicant Personal Information Collection Statement and for recruitment purposes only. Candidates not notified within eight weeks may consider their application unsuccessful. We keep records of your data for no longer than is necessary for the purpose for which we obtained them and any other permitted linked purposes. If your application is unsuccessful, we will keep your details on file for as long as is necessary to process your application or for the purposes of further job opportunities if you agree to such longer periods.