Director Sales and Account management

Sabre is a technology company that powers the global travel industry. By leveraging next-generation technology, we create global technology solutions that take on the biggest opportunities and solve the most complex challenges in travel. 

Positioned at the center of the travel, we shape the future by offering innovative advancements that pave the way for a more connected and seamless ecosystem as we power mobile apps, online travel sites, airline and hotel reservation networks, travel agent terminals, and scores of other solutions.

Simply put, we connect people with moments that matter.

We are seeking a strategic and commercially driven Director of Sales to lead and grow one of Sabre’s largest and most important OTA partnerships.  As a key member of the EMEA OTA leadership team, you will be responsible for defining and executing the long-term strategy for our EMEA online business, ensuring strong commercial performance and deeper technology collaboration.

This role requires a senior leader who can operate in a matrixed, fast-moving tech environment, guiding a cross-functional team to deliver a product-led, partner-focused organization. The successful candidate will be responsible for delivering on air distribution goals, while also identifying new ways to expand the partnership across additional business lines, digital platforms and regions.

Critically, this role requires a deep understanding of Air Distribution and Travel Technology, with a clear vision for how Sabre, as a leading GDS, can unlock greater value for Large international OTAs by leveraging both current capabilities and future technologies in our roadmap. The ideal candidate will also be savvy in structuring and negotiating complex commercial agreements, including financial models that reflect shared value creation, and bring the executive presence needed to build trusted, strategic relationships with senior leaders both internally and within large OTA’s.

Responsibilities:

• Define and lead the commercial strategy for Sabre’s partnerships, focused on air distribution while identifying opportunities across adjacent business lines (e.g., fintech, product…).
• Drive commercial results through revenue growth, new product adoption, and value creation aligned to business objectives.
• Champion a product-led sales strategy, aligning Sabre’s evolving technology roadmap, including NDC and future-ready capabilities, to the OTA’s needs and growth plans.
• Serve as the senior commercial point of contact for customers executive team, building trust-based relationships and influencing long-term strategy by understanding their goals and KPIs
• Identify and communicate how GDS technology and innovation (such as NDC, merchandising, automation, and data intelligence) can solve complex partner challenges and differentiate Sabre in the market.
• Lead and develop a high-performing, cross-functional team (Sales, Technical Sales Support, Consulting), fostering a culture of accountability and continuous improvement, and coach the team that will ensure sales effectiveness methodology is institutionalized.
• Ensure the adoption of sales effectiveness methodologies (e.g., Salesforce, Strategic Selling) across the team to drive consistent performance and accurate forecasting leading to guidance and leadership to Sales and Technical Sales Support teams
• Collaborate cross-functionally with product, engineering, marketing, and global sales to ensure full alignment between commercial goals and technical delivery.
• Lead or support the structuring and negotiation of complex partnership agreements, including commercial terms and multi-layered financial models while also managing the forecast and P&L
• Assess current ways of working and identify opportunities for improvement as well as creativity to propose business solutions that add value in conjunction
• Provide market intelligence and competitor insights to Strategic Planning, contributing to proactive business strategies.
• Coordinate with regional and global counterparts (EMEA, NAM, APAC) to scale success, share best practices, and support Sabre’s global OTA growth strategy
• Demonstrate a deep understanding of the industry ecosystem, customer ownership structures, personas and future strategies.

Candidate Profile:

• A graduate degree is required; MBA / Masters would be an advantage
• Minimum of 10 years of progressive Senior Executive Leadership and Sales experience, preferably with a software services, IT or professional services company
• Extensive commercials experience with strong Airline supply and/or online retailing experience
• Ability to lead complex negotiations
• Large complex account management or new sales driven commercials roles (> 10years) or Online travel agency experience (> 5years) 
• Strong knowledge of Web services, GDS functionalities, infrastructure (nice to have)            
• Expertise in both the strategic and tactical aspects of leading the account management function with ability to build and maintain strong relationships internally and externally
• Extensive understanding of the Airline supply and online market landscape including competitive information, key trends, opportunities and threats.
• Proven ability of influencing cross-functional teams within a matrix organization
• Strategic thinker with strong commercial acumen

Key Skills:

• Airline supply/GDS Knowledge
• Ecommerce /OTA Knowledge
• Complex Value-based Negotiation
• Strategic analysis & planning
• Financial analysis
• Multinational / Multi Cultural Team management
• Coaching Skills

We will give careful consideration to your application and review your details against the position criteria. You will receive separate notification as your application progresses. Please note that only candidates who meet the minimum criteria for the role will proceed in the selection process.