Adventure Travel Sales & Operations Manager at Ker & Downey Africa

Job Description

• Only the Brave Need Apply. We’re calling the doers, the big dreamers, the curious and the adventurous.
• Ker & Downey Africa, an Adventure Travel Company that chases exceptional moments for intrepid souls with a luxurious edge, is looking for a confident, ambitious and experienced Sales & Operations Manager to manage, motivate and lead our team of growing sales and operations team and handling our growing number of high profile clients from the United States, Europe and beyond.
• You will be tasked with creating the right team structure, dynamics and incentive structure to ensure a world class customer experience for each prospective Ker & Downey Africa client from the point of enquiry through to the client’s safe return home that results in the company consistently achieving its sales and gross profit targets and that brand-builds for future success.
• You will be involved in the creation and execution of the budgeting, finances and sales strategy of the business, ensuring agreed targets and objectives are achieved, guide and manage a growing sales and concierge team, liaise & work closely with other departments in the business to optimise processes, provide customer feedback and improve product development as well as report to the CEO on team’s performance.

Key Accountabilities of the Role:

• Responsible for the management of all English language business to consumer and business to business sales.
• Ensuring best-in-industry response time to all leads within budget and within timelines set by company.
• Development / delivery of financial forecasts, budgets and monthly sales / profit reports.
• Developing and implementing a B2B sales strategy focusing on maximising sales, revenue, meeting agreed gross margin targets.
• Responsible for the recruitment, guidance, skills and product knowledge development of the sales and operations team.
• Manage and monitor all sales performance, reporting, streamlining processes and systems wherever possible, and advising senior management on maximising customer relationships and creating an environment where customer service can flourish.
• Liaise with the CEO, marketing and product managers in the development of the annual marketing plan, as well as the feedback on the performance against that plan, specifically advising and reporting on: realistic forecasts for each product and territory (based on historical data, market trends, competitive activity, promotional strategy and sales effort) and realistic costs of operating the sales team.

Key Experience/Characteristics:

• Extensive product knowledge of Southern Africa and East Africa
• 5 years+ management experience in the travel and safari industry (or related)
• Financial literacy
• Direct customer sales interactions
• Tourplan experience
• International client exposure
• Obsessed with quality and customer service and exceeding expectations
• Good presentation, facilitation and excellent administrative skills
• Ability to work under high pressure
• Ability to lead, motivate and mentor a high performance sales and operations team
• Ability to adapt to a changing trade and environment easily
• Constantly thinking of the bigger picture and how to simplify and streamline interdepartmental processes and relationships (process improvement)
• Can hit the ground running and deliver successful results
• Key Performance Areas:
• Achievement of monthly / quarterly / annual sales targets
• Quality and accuracy of all sales and operations materials
• Personal development plan(s) for each team member
• High service levels / high performance culture
• To effectively action the travel booking process at all levels, resulting in a creative, friendly, efficient, and cost conscious travel service delivery that differentiates Ker & Downey Africa.
• Preparing quotations for clients that best suit their experience expectations within budget.