exodus travels & headwater

About Us:

Our mission is simple, to improve life through travel. For over 40 years Headwater Holidays has been pioneering active travel holidays for its customers, delivering extraordinary experiences across more than 30 countries worldwide.

Providing unparalleled expertise and local knowledge, we have been crafting amazing active travel experiences for years. Our values are to Bring Happiness, Take Responsibility, Be Ambitious and Always Passionate; they underpin the work that we do and act as a reminder of why we do it. We are looking for people who can embrace our values and live them every day.

It’s an exciting time to join as there are big growth plans across the program, and significant opportunities in  Product enrichment, development and management, as well as enhanced commercial management of Headwater portfolios.

The Product department covers partner selection, supporting contracting and negotiation, managing supplier relationships, delivering NPS success, providing marketing content, arranging FAM trips, providing operational support, and sales literature production, they also work closely with others internally to ensure all products are delivered to the highest possible standards with significant focus on health & safety and operational delivery.

Headwater sits within Travelopia’s UK Adventure division, which also includes Exodus Travels, and together they offer a diverse range of experiences to a wide range of discerning customers in multiple markets including UK and North America.

Summary:

To help manage the Headwater product portfolio to continue achieving revenue targets and deliver sustainable long-term growth. To deliver Product on time, maintain appropriate availability, and an optimal product portfolio to enable the company to hit revenue, NPS, passenger, and profit targets. To work closely with all other internal departments - especially Navigation, Costings, Procurement, Marketing, Sales, and Customer Support as appropriate.

Working with us:

Join us and in return, you will be rewarded with:

• Competitive salary
• Bonus scheme
• Various employee discounts and offers
• Childcare vouchers & cycle to work scheme
• Contributory Pension scheme
• Career progression opportunities

Key Responsibilities:

To manage specific trips within a variety of destinations, responsibilities to include:

• Agree requirements and changes (for example, accommodation and routes) for each product in their region, on an annual basis, with 3rd party agents and hotel suppliers
• Production of sales literature, ensuring accuracy and on-time delivery of brochures, website, and ad hoc marketing
• Write and manage accurate, clear, and concise customer holiday information and trip notes
• Monitor and review customer feedback and NPS score of portfolio and put in place any changes as required to deliver NPS target
• Manage all aspects of health and safety for trip portfolio
• Manage changes and updates to route notes on our app, working closely with our navigation team
• Training of internal departments (Sales, Customer Support, and Marketing)
• Support for Sales teams to ensure sales are maximized for their trips and destinations
• Monitoring and analysis of competitors for trip costing recommendations and to ensure the best products in the marketplace (commercial understanding and focus)
• Pro-active communication to marketing and sales for the promotion of trips
• Support Procurement team in negotiation and contracting of suppliers, including allocations and free-sell arrangements
• Investigate, propose, and deliver new products and services in line with business objectives
• Manage supplier relationships, including the provision of regular feedback directly to partners
• Responsibility for all matters of operational quality, safety, and duty of care issues on managed trips
• Support to Customer Services in dealing with customer complaints
• Join the duty phone rota to ensure 24/7 emergency cover for clients in destination
• Driving sustainability of products. Championing Responsible Tourism for managed trips.
• Maintain and update all necessary areas of the reservation system and other company databases in conjunction with other departments
• Cultivate relationships with associate bodies, for example Tourist boards, and work with marketing to pitch promotion packages
• Identify a need, and where required, create FAM trips for staff to experience product
• Covering absences and helping other team members during busy periods. Additional duties as and when required

Requirements:

What we are looking for:

• Ability to prioritize and manage workload, which will involve multiple tasks, on a day-to-day basis
• Excellent attention to detail, strong analytical, accuracy, creative writing skills, and a willingness to learn
• Understanding and experience in one of Headwater’s core activities (for example: Cycling, Walking, Canoeing & Cross-country Skiing)
• IT literate (especially Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook & Word)
• Good written and spoken English + at least one European language would be highly advantageous
• Creative and innovative with a strong cultural awareness
• Good geographical and travel knowledge

Working Hours:

• Hybrid role, with the expectation of a minimum of 2 days in the office per week. Working day 09:00 to 17:00 Monday to Friday. Duties outside normal working hours may include: Saturdays, Emergency (Duty Manager mobile phone) cover, occasional public or company shows where applicable and overseas travel related to position.

Our commitment to Equity, Diversity & Inclusion

Together we will cultivate a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment, where all our people can flourish and are encouraged to be their unique selves.  We are committing to implement meaningful change within our culture by increasing awareness of and counteracting unconscious bias, eradicating systemic barriers, embracing diversity, and engaging all employees in the process.

Our commitment to Thriving Nature, Thriving People

We know better than most how life-affirming, awe-inspiring and horizon-expanding travel can be. We firmly believe travel should support our destinations to thrive too. Our Thriving Nature, Thriving People plan lays out the ways in which we persistently and passionately strive to take a nature positive approach and contribute to destination communities. From carbon and waste reduction, to support for rewilding and conservation, to providing economic opportunity for disadvantaged groups, we aim to support people and nature to thrive in harmony, in the way we run our business and design our adventures.

We look forward to getting to know you!

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