Product Manager - Sport Travel

Destination Sport Experiences

Product Manager

This role is based in our Manchester office, you must live within a commutable distance.

Destination Sport Experiences, through its’ global sports travel brands Marathon Tours & Travel, Tri Travel, HYROX, Sportive Breaks and Destination Sport Charity cater for those who want to participate in the very best running, triathlon, fitness and cycling events across the world. Destination Sport Experiences offer tours, travel packages, and guaranteed entry to events around the world, together with VIP hospitality access to many of the top professional cycling events as well as managing travel programs for mass participation events on behalf of charities, companies and groups throughout the year. We are a proud partner of many of the Abbott World Marathon Majors and work closely with major sports events organisers across the globe. The team behind Destination Sport Experiences regularly participate in running and cycling events, as well as helping to manage events and support our clients on their journey through each event, so we understand the needs of those travelling with us.https://www.destinationsportexperiences.com/

Due to an exciting year of growth, we are now looking for a Product Manager to assist the existing operations team in managing events from initial planning and contracting the services required through to delivery of the event. Primarily this role will be within the Marathon Tours & Travel running team but work on other brands is also possible at any stage.

No two days are the same in this exciting role but on a typical day you will:

• Lead a portfolio of events on the planning of the operational delivery

• Liaise with hotels, transport companies, event organisers and other external suppliers

• Assist with contracting hotels, including negotiation of rates, commission etc

• Manage the product and keep the website up to date

• Ensure the product is loaded correctly on to the website for sale

• Constantly monitor the sales position of product and suggest appropriate course of action depending upon the position

• Work closely with our internal Commercial, Sales and Marketing teams

• Assist customer service teams with customer queries

• Assist in new product development to grow our portfolio globally

Requirements

To be successful within this role, our ideal candidate will:

• Have a working knowledge of travel, and experience working in sports travel (mass participation sports highly preferred)

• Demonstrate previous experience within an operational product role (within the sport travel industry is preferred)

• Have a keen interest in mass participation running events (highly preferred but not essential)

• Have strong financial acumen with the ability to take full ownership of each products budget

• Have strong worldwide destination knowledge

• Have strong negotiation skills with previous experience in contracting

• Possess excellent planning and event management skills

• Demonstrate strong attention to detail

• Be highly organised and accurate

• Show strong product knowledge and planning of travel and accommodation services for events

• Demonstrate outstanding interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate to both internal & external stakeholders at all levels of seniority

• Have a good understanding of marketing & sales strategies within the mass participation sports industry

• Demonstrate sound knowledge of sustainability and health and safety requirements

• Show excellent operational delivery and customer service skills

• Be a self-starter with the ability to manage the logistics of an event

• Have the ability to prioritise workload and adapt to last minute operational changes

• Be customer focused & have excellent relationship building skills

• Be a team player with the ability to work well within our operational team to shared objectives

• Have strong knowledge of Microsoft Office applications including; Word, Outlook and demonstrating Intermediate to advanced Excel skills

• Knowledge of booking, inventory and reservations systems is highly desirable

• Be able to travel both domestically & internally for work purposes

In return we offer

• The opportunity to work with world class professional sporting clubs

• Hybrid working model

• Highly competitive salary

• Guaranteed day off on your birthday

• The opportunity to sample top level hospitality packages at stadiums across the world

• Supplier hosted networking events

• Company funded parties

• Opportunity for progression

• Funded training

• Access to wellness hub with various discounts including discounted gyms & retail providers

• Access to discounted hotels & sporting event tickets

So if you are looking for your next challenge, take a look and get in touch we'd love to hear from you!