Manager, Airline Partnerships

What You’ll Do:

• Build and grow relationships with carriers across the Americas, conduct business reviews, and engage with key partner stakeholders, with particular emphasis on South America
• Lead airline partner engagement for Navan Signature Services and act as its airline partnerships subject matter expert across Navan Premier, Navan Events, Navan Specialty, and Navan Concierge.
• Evaluate, negotiate, and renew airline agreements, including incentives, content access, and marketing opportunities.
• Own revenue forecasts, track incentive attainment and partner commitments, and monitor booking trends and profitability. Identify performance gaps early and execute plans to meet or exceed commercial goals.
• Analyze deal economics, model commercial scenarios, and translate complex data into clear recommendations for senior leadership and airline partners.
• Partner with suppliers, Product, Engineering, and Operations to expand access to competitive fares and relevant content across various content channels.
• Coordinate with Finance, Sales, Customer Success, Marketing, and other stakeholders on partner initiatives. Equip customer-facing teams with clear airline updates and resolve issues that affect partnership performance.
• Build our industry relationships at partner meetings and events, and bring insights on airline retailing, distribution trends, and emerging risks back to the team.

What We’re Looking For:

• 5+ years of experience in airline partnerships, travel supply, distribution, commercial account management, or a related travel industry role, ideally working with or for airlines.
• A track record of leading commercial negotiations and growing partner relationships, with clear examples of revenue growth, stronger economics, or improved customer value.
• A strong understanding of airline distribution, including global distribution systems (GDS), New Distribution Capability (NDC), and direct connections, and how these affect content, pricing, and servicing.
• Strong analytical and financial skills, including advanced Excel or Google Sheets proficiency and the ability to build forecasts, assess profitability, and turn data into a clear course of action.
• Excellent written and verbal communication in English
• Sound judgment, strong organization, and a bias toward action. You can manage a portfolio independently, navigate ambiguity, and coordinate multiple teams to deliver results.
• Bachelor’s degree in business, economics, hospitality, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• Ability to travel for airline partner meetings and industry events.