Associate Director, Strategic Partnerships (Gurgaon-Based)

About Agoda 

Agoda is an online travel booking platform for accommodations, flights, and more. We build and deploy cutting-edge technology that connects travelers with more than 3.6 million accommodations globally. Based in Asia and part of Booking Holdings, our 6,000+ employees representing 90+ nationalities foster a work environment rich in diversity, creativity, and collaboration. We innovate through a culture of experimentation and ownership, enhancing the ability for our customers to experience the world.

Our Purpose - Bridging the World Through Travel 

We believe travel allows people to enjoy, learn and experience more of the amazing world we live in. It brings individuals and cultures closer together, fostering empathy, understanding and happiness.
We are a skillful, driven and diverse team from across the globe, united by a passion to make an impact. Harnessing our innovative technologies and strong partnerships, we aim to make travel easy and rewarding for everyone.

Get to Know our Team:  

Strategic Partnerships is a team of creative entrepreneurs that develop solutions for Agoda’s and other Booking Holdings brands’ non-accommodation partners and promote our top and bottom-line growth. We design tailored business and product solutions with our partners and help them generate measurable value. Members of our team are empowered and supported to grow their market(s) or accounts. We develop win-win relationships and leverage Agoda’s and Booking Holdings’ unique travel product portfolio and tech solutions to bring our partners the advantages they seek.  Utilizing our strong brand and resources, we build new channels to increase the visibility of Agoda and the other group companies, introduce more travelers to our great products and service and deliver significant profits to the overall business.   

The Opportunity: 

The key objectives of Associate Director, Strategic Partnerships are to lead and drive profitability growth through a wide array of third parties and distribution channels (e.g., Airlines, OTA, Travel Companies, Financial Institutions, Loyalty programs, and Ecommerce), and to initiate changes that will impact our commercial performance. 

Associate Director, Strategic Partnerships will bring a strong leadership drive and commercial acumen coupled with operations and project management knowledge, high level of sales and consulting skills and technical savviness with the ability to develop, motivate, mentor a team of account managers, and work with cross-functional teams. 

This position is based in Gurgaon 

In This Role, You’ll Get To: 

• Define, communicate and execute growth strategy for partnership business in India in alignment with department and company visions.   

• Deliver on country commercial and profitability targets through robust performance management to enhance profitability and drive competitive advantage. 

• Lead and own establishing/maintaining robust relationships at higher level with key partners, influencing key partnership expansions, identifying significant opportunities and convincing/onboarding strategic partners on a large scale. 

• Autonomously lead, design, and execute team-wide innovations, improvements, business experiment and share data-driven learnings and create frameworks to scale it across partners and markets. 

• Successfully influence and manage key internal stakeholders, upwards and cross-functionally, to set and drive common objectives and achieve business impact 

• Coordinate with top management on strategic planning, objectives, and resource allocation to ensure the competitiveness of Agoda’s and other Booking Holdings group companies’ partnership products and services in the market. 

• Effectively communicate business updates to senior leadership through Quarterly Business Reviews, Strategic Deep Dives and other ad hoc requests 

• Manage a team of account managers to deliver growth, innovation and optimization of partnerships. Farmer role 

What You’ll Need to Succeed: 

• >8+ years’ experience in driving cross-functional initiatives with proven success record, in rapidly changing environment. Good level of successes with Partner management, project management, commercial negotiation 

• Strategic thinker, structured thinking & Execution, strong numerical and analytical skills 

• Fluent in Hindi Language and English with strong interpersonal skills 

• Professional “get it done” attitude and work ethic. 

• Resourceful, energetic, and self-driven personality. 

• Ability to move fast, adapt well to and is energized by change. 

• Relevant account management, business development experience highly valued 

• Experience in/have strong connection with online travel/ e-commerce/ metasearch preferred 

• > 3 years of people management experience is preferred. 

• MBA holder from a well-known institution preferred 

• International experience strongly preferred