Global Director, Airline & Distribution Partnerships

About the job

The Global Director, Airline & Distribution Partnerships will lead the company’s worldwide strategy and relationships across both airline and air distribution partners. This includes direct airline collaborations as well as partnerships with Global Distribution Systems (GDSs), aggregators, consolidators, and API providers. The role carries full ownership of commercial strategy, partner performance, and revenue growth, while ensuring strategic alignment between airline content, technology integration, and customer value delivery.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Define, develop, and execute a unified global strategy for airline and distribution partnerships.

• Drive commercial growth, profitability, and competitive advantage across all air content channels.

• Establish and maintain executive-level relationships with airlines, GDSs, and distribution partners.

• Represent the company externally at industry events, supplier summits, and trade associations.

Partnership Management

• Negotiate major global contracts with airlines, GDSs, aggregators, and consolidators.
  Develop and oversee structured governance models (QBRs, SLAs, scorecards) to ensure accountability and performance.

• Drive co-innovation initiatives with partners to enhance customer experience, efficiency, and revenue opportunities.

• Manage and mentor a global team of Business Development Managers overseeing regional partnerships.

Commercial & Performance Oversight

• Own the P&L for global airline and distribution partnerships.

• Track KPIs, partner performance, and revenue delivery, ensuring consistent value creation.

• Collaborate with Finance to forecast, report, and optimize commercial outcomes.

• Identify and implement opportunities for cost efficiency and margin expansion.

Technology & Product Integration

• Partner with Product and Technology teams to integrate NDC, API, and distribution platforms seamlessly.

• Evaluate emerging distribution technologies and recommend adoption strategies.

• Ensure distribution infrastructure delivers scalable, differentiated, and reliable airline content.

Market Intelligence & Growth

• Maintain a deep understanding of global airline distribution trends, including NDC adoption, GDS evolution, and direct connect dynamics.

• Provide insights to senior leadership on competitive shifts, risks, and opportunities.

• Develop region-specific strategies aligned with market conditions and partner landscapes.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience: 10+ years in airline partnerships, air distribution, or travel technology sectors (OTA, TMC, GDS, airline).

• Leadership: experience leading teams and managing global partner portfolios.

• Commercial Acumen: Proven record of negotiating complex global agreements with full P&L ownership.

• Technical Fluency: Familiarity with NDC, APIs, and airline distribution technologies.

• Strategic Mindset: Ability to combine commercial, technical, and market intelligence into cohesive strategies.

• Communication: Strong executive presence with the ability to influence at senior levels internally and externally.

• Attributes: Entrepreneurial, collaborative, and passionate about shaping the future of airline distribution.

#LI-REMOTE

More about Hopper

At Hopper, we are on a mission to become the leading travel platform globally – powering Hopper’s mobile app, website and our B2B business, HTS (Hopper Technology Solutions). By leveraging massive amounts of data and advanced machine learning algorithms, Hopper combines its world-class travel agency offering with proprietary fintech products to bring transparency, flexibility and savings to travelers globally. We have developed several unique fintech solutions that address everything from pricing volatility to trip disruptions – helping people travel better and save more on their trips.

The Hopper platform serves hundreds of millions of travelers globally and continues to capture market share around the world. The Hopper app has been downloaded over 120 million times and has become largely popular among younger travelers – with 70% of its users being Gen Z and millennials.

While everyone knows us as the Gen Z and Millennial travel app, Hopper has evolved to become much more than that. In recent years, we’ve grown into a travel fintech provider, commerce platform, and global travel agency that powers some of the world’s largest brands.

Through HTS, our B2B division, the company supercharges its partners’ direct channels by integrating our fintech products on their sites or powering end-to-end travel portals. Today, our partners include leading travel brands like Capital One, Nubank, Air Canada, and many more.

Here are just a few stats that demonstrate the company’s recent growth:

• Billions of dollars worth of travel and travel fintech are sold through Hopper and HTS channels every year.

  • Our fintech products – including Cancel for Any Reason and Flight Disruption Assistance – have exceptionally strong CSAT because the terms are always clear, and customers receive instant, no-questions-asked resolutions.

  • Almost 30% of our app customers purchase at least one fintech product when making a booking; and consumers are 1.6x more likely to repurchase if they add fintech to their booking vs if they booked just travel.

• Given the success of its fintech products, Hopper launched a B2B initiative, HTS (Hopper Technology Solutions), which represents more than 75% of the business.

  • Through HTS, any travel provider (airlines, hotels, banks, travel agencies, etc.) can integrate and seamlessly distribute Hopper’s fintech or travel inventory on their direct channels. As its first HTS partnership, the company partnered with Capital One to co-develop Capital One Travel, a new travel portal designed specifically for cardholders. Other HTS partners include Air Canada, Uber, CommBank, Nubank, Flair Airlines and many more.

Hopper has been named the #1 most innovative company in travel by Fast Company.

We have raised over $750 million USD of private capital and are backed by some of the largest institutional investors and banks in the world. HTS is primed to continue its growth as the leading travel ecommerce provider in a $1 trillion online shopping category. The Hopper app and website will also continue to be the preferred travel provider for Gen Z and Millennials.

Come take off with us!