Head of Sales

Travelbag is a leading long haul B2C brand and part of the dnata Travel Group UK portfolio of travel businesses. We have an exciting opportunity for a Head of Sales.

The Head of Sales at Travelbag is responsible for leading a team of six direct reports, overseeing a broader sales team of approximately 80 professionals across retail locations and remote settings, as well as heading up the Learning & Development, Customer Experience and Fares Support teams.

As a key member of the leadership team, this role is instrumental in developing and executing sales strategies to achieve the company's growth targets. They will also inspire and coach the team to enhance performance and efficiency, focusing on customer retention and conversion optimisation to meet revenue objectives.

The role will also entail vital operational elements including building relationships with dnata shared services functions and finance teams as well as overseeing the facilities aspect of retail locations.

We are looking for someone with extensive travel sales management expertise, with significant experience at a senior management level.

This role is based at our Kingston upon Thames office on a hybrid basis and will involve weekly travel to at least one of our Travelbag retail locations within the UK.

**Job Accountabilities**:

- Develop and implement a comprehensive sales strategy to drive conversion % improvements and margin growth.
- Align sales strategies with overall business objectives, collaborating with senior leadership to ensure cohesive and effective planning.
- Lead and inspire a geographically dispersed sales team (across retail and home-working network), fostering a collaborative environment that leverages strengths to drive business growth
- Lead the Sales management team to ensure consistent achievement of targets and the delivery of exceptional customer service.
- Drive sales in line with monthly/yearly targets whilst maintaining KPI responsibility for margin, conversion, call loss and customer satisfaction scores.
- Lead, mentor and motivate a high-performing sales team, fostering a culture of collaboration and service excellence.
- Analyse sales data and reports to identify trends, opportunities or areas for improvement. Report back to business regularly with findings and recommendations.
- Collaborate with sales managers to drive excellence by developing action plans that address underperformance and build on strong performance.
- Oversee and optimise the use of CRM systems, booking platforms, phone systems, and other communication tools to enhance enquiry conversion rates and overall sales efficiency.
- Collaborate closely with Marketing, Commercial, and Product teams to ensure an optimal mix of leads, customer data and enquiry types for maximum conversion.
- Work closely with Product to share feedback and insights that support the evolution of sales offerings.
- Periodically drive reviews and positive adjustments to the Sales team’s commission incentives to ensure the business has both ROI and industry leading rewards programme.
- Collaborate closely with shop managers to optimise in-store customer experiences, and leverage opportunities, ensuring each location contributes effectively to overall business growth.
- Work with the Learning & Development team to implement tailored sales training programmes that address skill gaps, reinforce best practices, and align with business objectives

**To be considered for this role, you need to have the following skills and experience**:

- Excellent leadership skills with the ability to motivate and inspire a diverse team
- Strong business acumen, very financially literate
- Analytical skills and a data-driven approach to decision-making
- Excellent communicator able to influence and convince at all levels
- Managed a P&L and budgets
- Knowledge on the overall Travel industry issues, trends, economics etc
- Strong character with winning approach and attitude
- Self-motivated and self-disciplined and able to work on own initiative
- Ability to think strategically and implement short-term and longer-term departmental objectives
- Results orientated
- Must be fluent in English

**Our range of benefits include**:

- 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays, increasing to 28 days after 5 full years of service
- Additional annual leave purchase scheme
- Company pension scheme
- Life assurance
- Private Medical cover for you
- Low-cost health care for your family
- Employee Assistance programme
- Mental Health First Aiders
- Ongoing development - we have an in-house People Development Team
- Travel discounts - we have a dedicated Staff Travel Team to source the best deals for our people
- Industry/social events - including supplier events, office socials & parties and pop-up shops
- Cycle to work scheme
- Long service awards
- Belong Programme - Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) that play a crucial role in implementing our DEI strategy
- Volunteer days - one day’s paid leave each yea