Contracting Manager ( )

Magic Safari; Cape Town; Hybrid; ZAR 900,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Profit sharing

Hybrid work model

Salary strong by SA standards

Job summary

Magic Safari is seeking a contracting manager to own terms with thousands of suppliers across East and Southern Africa. You will lead negotiations, shape commercial terms, and work with product to build AI-driven contracting tools.

You'll focus on scaling contracts, securing favorable rates, and leveraging data to outperform regional rivals. Hybrid position based in Cape Town with a fast-paced, high-velocity environment that rewards hands-on execution.

Qualifications

• 5+ years negotiating supplier contracts at a DMC, tour operator, or hotel or lodge group.
• Strong general negotiation skills, and the habit of using data to move the other side.
• An understanding of the business from both the DMC side and supplier side (occupancy, yield, seasonality, owner priorities).
• Fluency in commission, overrides, STO, promotions and FX.

Responsibilities

• Contract at scale across East and Southern Africa, expanding our contracted portfolio.
• Win the best terms in the market by leveraging data and benchmarks.
• Guide engineers to build AI tools that automate contracting tasks and renewals.
• Build long-lasting relationships with GMs, heads of sales and revenue managers.

Skills

Contract negotiation

Data-driven negotiation

Supplier relations

Analytical mindset

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business

Tools

CRM software

Excel

Job description

Magic Safari is building the digital backbone of Africa's safari economy. Today, a single safari takes days of emails, WhatsApps, calls and PDFs to plan. We've made that planning computable. Agents using our DMC go from brief to a personalized, bookable proposal in minutes, and sell Africa like experts.

If you want to build the system the safari industry runs on, Magic Safari is the place to do it.

About the role

Contracting is a high-leverage point for any DMC, but the industry has underinvested in it. The job is buried in admin and janky tools.

Magic Safari is building software and AI agents to remove the admin from contracting, so our contracting team can engage with far more suppliers, have deeper negotiations, and close terms nobody else thought to ask for.

We're looking for a contracting manager who wants to figure this out with us. You'll own the commercial terms with thousands of suppliers, and help shape the tools that make it possible.

What you'll do

• Contract at scale. Grow our contracted portfolio across East and Southern Africa far beyond what one contracting manager has traditionally carried.
• Win the best terms in the market. Match the best DMCs in the region, and beat them on our most important suppliers. Build your case from rich data no one else has.
• Find the next lever. When a supplier's rates are maxed out, find something else: an override, a better off-season STO, a stay-pay, guaranteed peak-season allocation, or champagne on arrival for our agents' guests.
• Build relationships that last. Earn the trust of GMs, heads of sales and revenue managers. Work closely with our product team, who own the day-to-day supplier relationship.
• Shape the software. Guide our engineers as they build AI agents and tools to take care of the administrative work: comparing contracts year on year, benchmarking rates and tracking renewals.

What you need

• 5+ years negotiating supplier contracts at a DMC, tour operator, or hotel or lodge group.
• Strong general negotiation skills, and the habit of using data to move the other side.
• An understanding of the business from both the DMC side and supplier side (occupancy, yield, seasonality, owner priorities).
• Fluency in commission, overrides, STO, promotions and FX.
• Obsessive attention to detail. You catch the wrong number in row 47.
• A demonstrated ability to get real work done with AI. We want to see what you've done.
• Knowledge of the East and Southern African supplier landscape.

Working style

We're hybrid, with an office in Cape Town. We keep meetings to a minimum, work hard and move at a high velocity. This is not a "chill" role, but for the right person it will be super energizing.

What you get

• A salary that's strong by South African standards.
• A large supplier portfolio, and software built around how you work.
• A share of company profit.
• Work with an experienced team to transform the safari industry