Business Development Manager

Spencer Recruitment; Santa Rosa (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Performance bonus

Job summary

Spencer Recruitment partners with an established international destination management and travel business to recruit a Senior Business Development Manager – North America Groups. This is a dedicated new-business hunter role focused on developing inbound group travel from the United States into Europe.

You will own the North American groups market, build relationships with tour operators, generate inquiries, proposals and revenue, and lead negotiations to secure long-term partnerships.

Qualifications

• Significant business development experience in the travel or tourism sector.
• Strong group travel knowledge with existing US operator relationships.
• Proven ability to identify and win new accounts and convert prospects.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute a focused US Groups market strategy.
• Identify, target and acquire new tour operator and group partners.
• Build relationships with senior commercial decision-makers in North America.
• Generate enquiries, proposals and revenue opportunities.
• Maintain a strong, qualified sales pipeline and forecast.
• Lead prospecting, outreach, meetings and follow-ups.

Skills

Business development

US market network

Negotiation

Sales pipeline

Trade shows

Relationship building

Job description

Senior Business Development Manager – North America Groups

United States | Full-time | Permanent

Northeast / Mid-Atlantic preferred | Open to strong candidates elsewhere in the US

Spencer Recruitment is partnering with an established international destination management and travel business to recruit a Senior Business Development Manager – North America Groups.

This is a dedicated new business acquisition role focused on developing inbound group travel business from the United States into the UK, Ireland, Nordics, Baltics and wider European destinations.

We are looking for a commercially driven business development professional with an established network within the US tour operator and group travel market.

This is not an account-maintenance position. The successful candidate will be a genuine new-business hunter who can identify opportunities, open relationships, convert new clients and build a sustainable commercial pipeline.

The Role

Reporting to the Group Chief Revenue Officer, you will take ownership of new business development across the North American groups market.

Your focus will include leisure, educational, affinity, religious and specialist group travel, building relationships with tour operators and other organisations that send groups into Europe.

You will be expected to bring strong market knowledge, established industry relationships and a practical understanding of how to generate meaningful commercial activity relatively quickly.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and execute a focused business development strategy for the US Groups market.
• Identify, target and acquire new tour operator and group travel partners.
• Build relationships with senior commercial decision-makers across the North American travel industry.
• Generate new enquiries, proposals and revenue opportunities.
• Develop and maintain a strong, qualified sales pipeline.
• Take ownership of prospecting, outreach, meetings, presentations and commercial follow-up.
• Convert new relationships into long-term, repeat business.
• Represent the business at relevant trade shows, industry events and client meetings.
• Negotiate commercially viable agreements with new partners.
• Work closely with destination, product and operational teams to develop compelling solutions for clients.
• Provide accurate pipeline reporting and sales forecasting.
• Identify emerging opportunities across leisure, education, affinity, religious and specialist group markets.
• Ensure successful handover of newly won business into the operational teams.

Ideal Candidate

We are particularly interested in candidates who come from one of the following backgrounds:

• A DMC, inbound operator or destination services business with strong knowledge of the North American tour operator market; or
• A US-based tour operator or group travel organisation with a strong network across educational, leisure, affinity, religious or specialist groups.

You are likely to have:

• Significant business development experience within the travel or tourism sector.
• Strong experience of group travel rather than primarily FIT travel.
• An established network of US tour operators and group travel decision-makers.
• A strong understanding of inbound European travel.
• A demonstrable record of personally winning new accounts.
• Experience developing business from prospecting through to conversion.
• Strong commercial and negotiation skills.
• A well-developed network within the North American travel trade.
• Experience attending and developing business through relevant B2B travel events and trade shows.
• Strong pipeline management and forecasting capability.
• The confidence to engage directly with senior commercial stakeholders.
• A genuinely entrepreneurial, proactive and results-driven approach.

Particularly Relevant Experience

Experience selling European destinations or services to the North American market would be highly advantageous.

• Educational Travel
• Alumni Travel
• Affinity Groups
• Performance Groups
• Specialist Groups
• Cultural / Heritage Travel
• Multi-generational Group Travel
• European inbound tourism

What Success Looks Like

This is a highly commercial role, and success will be measured primarily through new business generation.

The successful candidate should be able to demonstrate:

• An established network of relevant industry relationships.
• Accounts personally identified, approached and converted.
• Consistent prospecting and commercial activity.
• The ability to create meaningful opportunities within the first 90 days.
• Sustainable growth in new US group business.
• Long-term repeat relationships with tour operator partners.

Location

The role is US-based.

Candidates located in the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic are particularly encouraged to apply, although strong candidates elsewhere in the United States will also be considered.

The position will involve travel for client meetings, industry events and trade shows.

Compensation

Excellent base salary

A performance-related bonus / commission structure will form part of the overall package and is currently being finalised.

For an exceptional candidate with a particularly strong network and demonstrable track record of new business generation, the overall package may be discussed accordingly.

Why Consider This Opportunity?

This is an opportunity to take genuine ownership of a strategically important market for an established international travel business.

Rather than inheriting an existing portfolio, you will have the opportunity to build and shape the North American Groups pipeline, develop significant new relationships and directly influence the growth of the business.

If you are an experienced travel-industry business developer with an established US network and a track record of opening new accounts, we would be very interested in speaking with you.