Senior Director, Strategic Partnerships (Chicago)

Rocket Travel by Agoda is a travel technology company founded in 2012 under our flagship consumer-facing product, rocketmiles.com. Since then, we have evolved to partner with some of the largest consumer travel brands in the world, creating white-label solutions that allow customers to earn and redeem miles and points for booking hotels, rental cars, flights, and activities. Our global partnerships range from world-class airlines to international banks to large-scale shopping platforms. We help our partners develop successful go-to-market strategies through marketing expertise and data to support their overall growth.

About the role

As a Senior Director, Strategic Partnerships at Rocket Travel, you will:

• Own Regional Partnerships with our white-label, loyalty program partners. You’ll take on a team and set direction for the growth and optimization of partners within a designated region at Rocket Travel.
• Grow existing partnerships by analyzing data at a macro and micro level, strategizing around trends, and unlocking new avenues of growth.
• Establish team and partner KPIs to guide measurements of success and track progress along the way, reporting internally and externally on what is working well and where help is needed.
• Negotiate commercial terms with existing and potential new partners to create an aligned economic structure where both parties are motivated by the same success. Be a first line in contract reviews, working closely with legal teams to redline deals.
• Partner with product and engineering teams to define and deliver product features, tests, enhancements, and launches. Facilitate clear communication between external partners and internal teams.
• Partner with leadership across the Booking Holdings group to grow strategic partnerships through collaboration and product/partner innovation.
• Be a leader, acting as a manager, advocate, mentor, and peer. Engage with direct reports, guide priorities, and provide detailed support when needed to communicate partnership direction and strategy across the company.
• Bring creative thought to partnerships, working closely with each partner to drive growth across product verticals and be a subject matter expert on the global travel industry.
• Manage deadlines across projects. There will be short turnarounds for some projects and longer engagements with others. Be effective in managing time and balancing both.
• Be scrappy. We’re a small team and often wear many hats. Some projects may not be completely defined. This individual will take a resourceful approach to what’s needed and drive results.

Requirements

• You have 10+ years of relevant experience, preferably in B2B2C, partner management, or travel.
• You have proven experience leading, motivating, and growing a team.
• You are outcome-driven, providing specific instances of when and how to lead a team and hit KPIs.
• You are comfortable leading meetings and presenting to key stakeholders, leadership, and external partner stakeholders, including the executive C-suite level.
• You always put the customer front and center. Customers can be a traveler, partner, or even colleague. You ensure a focus centered around solving pain points.
• You have familiarity with key business tools across Google Sheets, Docs, and Slides. SQL knowledge is a plus.
• You understand business objectives. You establish goals for yourself, your team, and your partners. In negotiations, you understand tradeoffs and work to create the best deal for all parties.
• You have a strong knowledge of technology and product development with the ability to vary your communication based on the audience, both internal and external.
• You continuously seek feedback. You have a growth mindset, are comfortable soliciting thoughts from others, and are curious to learn from a spectrum of perspectives.

Pay

The base range plus equity and bonus for the Chicago metro area can total $193,000 – 227,000.

Candidates should be authorized to accept employment in the US from any employer, should be willing to start within three weeks of accepting an offer, and should be able to work the same daily working hours as our Chicago office.