Original listing text, shown exactly as published by the company.
About the Role
As a Sr. Business Development Manager, Airline Partnerships (Europe), you will own and grow a portfolio of strategic airline relationships across Europe, driving both revenue and margin performance within Hopper's ecosystem. You will play a critical role in shaping Hopper's airline distribution strategy across NDC, GDS, and direct partnerships, working closely with leading European carriers such as Lufthansa Group, IAG, Air France-KLM, and Turkish Airlines.
This is a high-impact, commercially driven role where you will act as the primary interface between Hopper and airline partners, balancing relationship management, negotiation, and performance optimization.
What would your day-to-day look like
- Own and manage a portfolio of European airline partnerships with a P&L mindset, serving as the primary point of contact for commercial, distribution, and operational topics
- Build strong, senior-level relationships across airline sales, distribution, and revenue management teams
- Develop and execute strategies to grow top-line revenue (TTV) and improve unit economics, analyzing performance across channels (NDC vs. GDS), fare mix, and ancillary attachment rates
- Lead negotiations for new agreements, renewals, and extensions -- driving improved commercial terms including base commissions, sector rebates, and marketing development funds (MDF)
- Identify and act on opportunities to optimize underperforming partnerships
- Develop deep expertise in airline distribution (NDC, EDIFACT, aggregators) and European airline competitive dynamics, translating industry trends into actionable strategies
- Partner cross-functionally with Product, Growth/Marketing, and Finance to align on feature development, campaigns, forecasting, and deal modeling
- Track KPIs including revenue, margin, incentive attainment, and product mix, and lead Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) with airline partners.
An ideal candidate has
- 6+ years of experience in airline distribution, OTA, TMC, GDS, or airline partnerships in European markets; MENA experience is a plus
- A proven track record managing strategic accounts, negotiating commercial agreements, and driving measurable revenue growth
- Strong understanding of airline distribution (NDC vs. GDS), fare structures, ancillaries, and airline economics
- A commercial mindset -- you think in revenue and margin, not just volume, and have experience working with incentives, rebates, and performance-based deals
- Excellent presentation and storytelling skills; ability to communicate effectively with both airline executives and internal stakeholders
- Highly organized, self-driven, and comfortable operating in a fast-paced, high-growth environment
- Bilingual or advanced proficiency in German, Spanish, or French is a plus
