Partnerships Lead - Travel Industry Sales, Tour Operator/Supplier

About Context

Context Travel offers cultural and historical tours and experiences led by subject-matter experts in over 80 cities around the world. Context tours enrich your travel with a deeper, personalized understanding of a city's history, art, and culture. With coverage of lesser known locales as well as main city sites, Context experts take clients through in-depth, thematic topics to help them get to know the DNA of a place.

Context offers competitive salaries and solid benefits, including unlimited vacation, health and 401k, and maternity leave.

Role

We're looking for an experienced, self-directed Partnerships Lead to identify, develop, and close new partnership opportunities that support our sales goals — including product partnerships, API/technology integrations, and relationships with travel consortia.

You'll join our sales team as an individual contributor, working alongside a sales strategy lead, a BDR, and a bottom-of-funnel associate. You'll own the full partnership lifecycle: sourcing and developing opportunities, carrying them from first conversation through signed agreement, and handing off to our team for implementation — while continuing to maintain the relationship at a strategic level over time. You'll also build on our existing product and API partnerships with tour operators, technology platforms, and other travel businesses, and help grow new ones.

This is a great fit for someone who already has a foot in the door across the travel industry — existing relationships with tour operators, technology partners, and ideally travel consortia — and who's motivated to go find and close the next opportunity with minimal oversight.

Location: Remote role, open across the U.S.

Schedule: Core U.S. business hours, Monday–Friday, with flexibility for partner calls across time zones and some nights/weekends for travel and events.

Salary: $80,000+ base, depending on experience, plus a performance-based incentive beginning with 2027 annual sales

Travel: ~25%, including partner meetings, industry conferences, and occasional coverage of travel advisor road shows/office visits for the BDR.

What You'll Do

• Identify, prospect, and develop new partnership opportunities — product partnerships, API/technology integrations, and travel consortia relationships — that support our sales goals
• Own the full partnership sales cycle, from first outreach through negotiation and signed agreement
• Hand off signed partnerships to our team for implementation, while continuing to own and maintain the relationship at a strategic level
• Build relationships with new travel consortia and brands to expand our advisor network
• Maintain and grow our existing product and API partnerships with tour operators, technology platforms, and other travel businesses
• Collaborate with sales, product, and delivery teams to shape partnership terms that support broader company goals
• Support the sales team's travel advisor road shows, office visits, and conferences as needed, including coverage for the BDR
• Track and report on partnership pipeline and performance using CRM tools (HubSpot)
• Represent Context Travel with prospective partners and at industry events

Who This Role Is For

This role is a great fit for someone who:

• Is an experienced, self-directed professional who thrives working independently and driving deals with minimal oversight
• Already has credibility and relationships within the travel industry — with tour operators, technology/API partners, and/or consortia
• Is comfortable owning a full sales cycle, from prospecting to close, and staying engaged afterward as the long-term relationship owner
• Enjoys building strategic, senior-level relationships as much as generating new business
• Is a team player who can flex to support the broader sales team when needed

What We're Looking For

• 5+ years of experience in partnerships, business development, or sales within the travel industry
• Existing relationships within the travel industry — tour operators, technology/API partners, and/or consortia — sufficient to open doors quickly
• Experience with, or strong interest in, travel consortia relationships a plus
• Proven ability to manage complex sales cycles from cold outreach to signed agreement
• Comfortable using CRM tools (HubSpot or similar) to manage pipeline and track performance
• Strong negotiation and relationship-management skills
• Organized and able to manage multiple priorities and a self-directed pipeline
• Willingness to travel (~25%) for partner meetings, conferences, and occasional team coverage

How You Work

• You don't need close oversight to stay aligned — you keep company priorities and stakeholders front of mind on your own
• You read a situation and know whether to keep pushing or change course
• You take initiative and follow through
• You work well with others, and you're just as comfortable improvising when things get scrappy

Bonus Points If You

• Have existing relationships with major travel agency brands and/or consortia
• Have experience with API or technology partnerships in the travel industry
• Have supported or led partnership implementation/onboarding processes
• Enjoy being in front of people and representing a brand
• Bring a positive attitude and sense of humor to your work

Preferred Systems Experience

• Google (Sheets, Docs, Slides, Meet, Gmail)
• HubSpot
• Front
• Slack
• Zoom
• Guru
• Basecamp

We Are Thrilled to Offer

• A supportive, mission-oriented work environment with colleagues who care
• Unlimited access to digital lectures, audio guides, and in-person small group tours
• Annual enrichment stipend to pursue personal and professional interests
• Flexible PTO (with no caps, encouraged minimums, and parental leave)
• A remote-first work policy — we have colleagues based in all four corners of the world
• An annual company retreat to connect and celebrate with colleagues in person. (Past locations include New York City, Philadelphia, Lisbon, Rome, Mexico City, and Berlin.)

Equal Opportunity

Context Travel is an equal-opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.

Originally posted on Himalayas