Head of Supplier Connectivity

WebBeds is one of the world’s fastest growing providers of accommodation distribution services to the travel industry, and our technology sits at the heart of it, from distribution APIs and payment integrations to data platforms and user interfaces, with our search API handling peaks of more than 50,000 requests per second.

Much of the content we offer our customers comes from the third-party suppliers we connect to, so the speed and quality of those integrations has a direct impact on what we sell. You will lead a global team that makes this happen, working closely with our contracting, engineering and support teams and with suppliers around the world.

What you will do on your journey with WebBeds.

As a Head of Technical Supplier Connectivity, you will lead the team that manages the technical relationship with our third-party suppliers, from the first technical conversation through to go-live and ongoing performance.

You will set the direction for how we engage with global suppliers and source their products, coach and develop a global team of technical consultants, and be the senior technical voice with our most important partners.

We are looking for someone who is hands-on enough to review an integration and spot what is wrong, but senior enough to set the roadmap, manage capacity and represent us confidently with partners and leadership.

In this role you will:

Key responsibilities

• Team leadership and development: Lead, coach and grow the Technical Supplier Connectivity team. Set clear priorities, objectives and performance standards, and build the skills the team needs as our platform and supplier base grow.
• Integration roadmap and onboarding: Own the supplier integration roadmap and onboarding pipeline. Make sure new suppliers go live on time, to a high quality and in the order that brings the most value to the business.
• Integration standards and best practices: Define and evolve integration standards, processes and best practices with the Global Connectivity team, so our integrations are consistent, reusable and easier to support.
• Senior escalation management: Act as the senior escalation point for complex integration issues with key suppliers. Work with Level 1 and Level 2 support to fix problems quickly and stop them from coming back.
• Quality assurance: Set up quality assurance practices for APIs and websites before implementation, and make sure the team applies them every time.
• Pre-sales and strategic partnerships: Work with sales, contracting and other teams on pre-sales and strategic partner discussions. Shape technical solutions that work for both the partner and WebBeds.
• API advocacy: Represent our APIs in workshops and presentations with key partners and senior stakeholders, giving practical advice on how to get the best out of them.
• KPIs and performance reporting: Define KPIs for integration quality, speed and team capacity. Report on them to senior leadership and use the data to drive improvements and resource planning.

The skills we would love to see in your suitcase!

Must have

• 7+ years of experience in travel technology, API integration-heavy or a related technical environment, including at least 3 years managing and developing technical teams.
• Strong understanding of API principles and integration (for example REST and SOAP, XML and JSON), with the ability to guide technical decisions and review your team’s solutions.
• Proven ability to manage several teams’ workloads and projects at the same time, making clear priority calls in a fast-moving environment.
• Experience defining team processes and KPIs, and reporting on performance to senior leadership.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to adjust your message for different audiences, including senior management.
• Fluent English communication skills, both written and oral.

Strong plus

• A hands-on technical background, such as coding in at least one server-side language or working with SQL or NoSQL databases.
• Pre-sales or solution consulting experience.
• Knowledge of systems design and high-volume platform architecture.
• Experience connecting third-party travel suppliers, such as wholesalers, bed banks or ground services providers, and knowledge of standards such as OpenTravel (OTA).

How you work

• You lead by example and are happy to get into the technical detail when the team needs you to.
• You enjoy solving tricky business and technical problems and finding creative ways around them.
• You stay calm when a key supplier has a problem, focusing on fixing it first and learning from it after.
• You build strong working relationships with suppliers, contracting, sales and engineering, across remote teams and different cultures.
• You communicate clearly and proactively, so nobody is surprised.

Web Travel Group is a global B2B organisation servicing the travel industry, connecting hotels and other travel sellers to a diverse network of travel buyers all over the world through our trade only digital travel marketplace brand –WebBeds.​

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WebBeds provides powerful distribution solutions that make selling and buying travel easier. WebBeds connects hotels to sell rooms with travel buyers looking to find rooms for their customers, the travelling public.​

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WebBeds partners are supported through a truly global footprint, we have a team of 2,000+ people in 120+ cites across 50+ countries speaking 50+ languages - all focused on ensuring WebBeds delivers value, choice, expertise and an unrivalled level of service.​

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Hotels and other suppliers - global and regional hotel chains, independent hotels, apartments, resorts, attractions, transfer and sightseeing companies and more - can sell their products through WebBeds by connecting to a global network of online and offline travel buyers through cutting edge solutions that provide greater inventory control to simplify distribution, and leverage WebBeds enhanced analytics to inform inventory optimisation choices – saving costs and increasing revenue. ​

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Travel buyers - online travel agencies, retail travel agents, corporate travel managers, tour operators, wholesalers, tourism boards, super apps, DMC’s, group providers, airlines and more - can integrate the hundreds of thousands of hotels and ground services in the WebBeds marketplace through simple and seamless API connectivity, or they cansearch, shop and book online through one of WebBeds trade only booking sites.​

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