Sr. Director, Flights Commercial Partnerships

KAYAK, part of Booking Holdings (NASDAQ: BKNG), is a leading travel search engine. With billions of queries across our platforms, we help people find their perfect flight, stay, rental car and vacation package. We're also transforming business travel with a new corporate travel solution, KAYAK for Business. As an employee of KAYAK, you will be part of a travel company that operates a portfolio of global metasearch brands including momondo, Cheapflights and HotelsCombined, among others. From start-up to industry leader, innovation is at our core and every employee has an opportunity to make their mark. Our focus is on building the best travel search engine to make it easier for everyone to experience the world. KAYAK is seeking a Senior Director, Flight Commercial Partnerships to lead and scale our North American flight commercial strategy. This role drives revenue growth, margin optimization, and long-term strategic value across airline, OTA, consolidator, ancillary and distribution partnerships throughout the region. You will lead the full commercial lifecycle for flight partnerships in NORAM — from strategy and deal structuring to execution, optimization, and long-term relationship management. The ideal candidate combines deep travel distribution expertise with strong analytical capabilities and a sophisticated understanding of airline revenue management, OTA economics, and fare systems infrastructure. If you are a pragmatic problem solver who questions assumptions, spots structural inefficiencies, and creates commercially viable solutions that unlock revenue and competitive advantage - we’d love to hear from you! This role will be required to work from our Cambridge, MA office at least 3 days per week. In this role, you will: - Develop and execute KAYAK’s NORAM flight commercial strategy across airlines, OTAs, consolidators, and emerging distribution models - Drive revenue and marketplace competitiveness through optimized commercial models, leading complex negotiations from strategy and goal alignment to execution - Identify growth opportunities across both OTAs and direct airline partnerships, including NDC, EDIFACT/GDS channels, direct APIs and hybrid distribution models - Analyze performance at route, carrier, and point-of-sale levels to inform negotiation strategy and commercial prioritization - Solve marketplace challenges with creative, data-driven commercial strategies that go beyond standard industry playbooks and create mutual value for KAYAK and its partners - Work with internal teams and external partners to improve connectivity, content parity and accuracy, fare mapping and competitiveness and merchandising performance - Build and maintain strong relationships with executives and key decision-makers at our most important current and prospective partner companies - Collaborate with product and marketing teams to improve user experience and conversion, while driving results for our partners including yield, attachment, up-sells and more - Lead and develop a high-performing flight and ancillary commercial team - Provide strategic guidance and insights to the executive team on market trends, competitive intelligence, and new opportunities for growth - Represent KAYAK as a senior commercial leader in industry forums and strategic partner engagements Please apply if you have: - 10+ years of experience in airline distribution, OTA commercial leadership, travel technology, or flight marketplace strategy - Solid understanding of the air industry and economics across the value chain - Proven track record negotiating complex, high-value commercial agreements - Strong analytical capability with experience in financial modeling, revenue forecasting, and performance optimization - Technical fluency in airfare distribution systems and branded fare merchandising - Strong executive presence with the ability to influence C-level stakeholders - Strategic thinking skills to balance long-term partnership value with near-term performance impact - Experience leading high-performing teams Benefits and Perks - Work from (almost) anywhere for up to 20 days per year - Focus on mental health and well-being: - Company-paid therapy sessions through SpringHealth - Company-paid subscription to HeadSpace - Company-wide week off a year - the whole team fully recharges (and returns without a pile-up of work!) - No meeting Fridays - Paid parental leave - Generous paid vacation + time off for your birthday - Paid volunteer time - Focus on your career growth: - Development Dollars - Leadership development - Access to thousands of on-demand e-learnings - Travel Discounts - Employee Resource Groups - Competitive retirement and health plans - Free lunch 2 days per week - Fun quarterly events such as boat trips, arcades, ski trips, Thursday happy hours, and more There are a variety of factors that go into determining a salary range, including but not limited to external market benchmark data, geographic location, and years of experience sought/required. The range for this Massachusetts based role is $180,000 - $200,000.00, not inclusive of annual bonus and recurring RSU grants. We offer a competitive base salary and benefits including: health benefits; flexible spending account; retirement benefits; life insurance; paid time off (including PTO, paid sick leave, medical leave, bereavement leave, floating holidays and paid holidays); and parental leave benefits. Inclusion At KAYAK, we want everyone to have the space to grow, share ideas and do great work. That’s why we’re focused on hiring the best talent from all walks of life and experiences, supporting them well and making sure no one feels like they have to fit a mold to belong here. Need any adjustments for the interview, application or on the job? No problem - just give us a heads-up. We’ve got you. #LI-EI1