Vice President, Product

Job title: Vice President, Product

Job description: Company Description

Founded in 2006, Kensington Tours is a $170 million privately held company that has been rapidly growing for the past few years. We are a multi-award-winning luxury tour operator offering tailor-made, private-guided experiences to the world’s most extraordinary destinations. Anchored by an industry-leading team of 150+ destination specialists, we deliver curated travel experiences for the most discerning clients. The success of Kensington Tours has been its ability to provide customized tours for each and every client in a market with increasingly sophisticated consumer knowledge and a heightened search for “authenticity of experience.” We do this with our pioneering technology platform that allows the company to connect tour experts all over the world into a single, streamlined database and booking engine.

Our tours consist of local hotels, private guides, airport transfers, transport between cities, and special experiences (e.g., hot air balloon ride). Our Procurement team finds destination management companies (DMC) around the world who provide these services, or they source them directly. The Product team curates these product components and then weaves them together into itineraries that span varying price levels and themes.

Kensington strives to surprise and delight at every turn with authentic, extraordinary, and unexpected experiences. Our brand promise – to create the experience that changes the life.

Job Description

In this role, you will be required to develop an appreciation for geographical locations to curate the best experiences for clients with different budgets and interests. The VP, Product will be responsible for new itinerary development, maintaining existing itineraries and maintaining competitive pricing to ensure Kensington Tours is offering leading experiences for our clients. You will work closely with the Procurement team and the Marketing team to merchandise preferred partners and influence the sales team to ensure we are driving volume to our preferred partners. Lastly, ensuring our itineraries meet the needs of customer segments from product segmentation and theme development.

Additionally, this role will require analytical expertise to understand the competitive landscape with the objective of benchmarking the “sizzle” of our trip experiences and price points to ensure competitiveness; for our business that means gaining an understanding of what is offered in our competitors’ itineraries and at what price. Possessing the ability to identify unique highlights is another critical element of this role. The most memorable parts of a trip are the small flourishes, like special access to a rare collection, reserved table at a top restaurant or exclusive tickets to an event. These unique highlights are the spices in a dish that makes it truly special. Finding great highlights requires careful research and teamwork with procurement to negotiate rates and operationalize ordering.

Product Development:

• Define the product strategy for Kensington Tours by developing a deep understanding of the competitive landscape and customer needs; translate the customer and market input into a responsive and executable product plan and product development process.
• Drive innovation and quick cycle improvement by working closely with the Product Directors in the refresh of current and the development of new itineraries, services, features and experiences; all with the intent of providing the most competitive and exciting offering in the marketplace.
• Lead the development of new business opportunities, partnerships, new product lines and product extensions.
• Influence the Sales Team to ensure compliance to preferred partners is adhered to.
• Develop the process to gather product insights and customer feedback, identify product development and training opportunities and communicate product updates.
• Collaborate with key Business stakeholders in the development and implementation of the product strategy and plan (Sales, Marketing, Procurement, Operations).
• Monitor performance and trending of the product portfolio and plan; adjust strategy and tactics as needed to meet business goals and KPIs and to ensure global consistency and brand alignment.
• Mentor and coach the team of Product Directors and Analysts in the development of itineraries and services; support them in the translation of product concepts into deliverable services and itineraries.
• Partner with Marketing and Sales on the pricing and commercialization of itineraries.
• Proactively work with global suppliers to identify unique product opportunities that drive product innovation.
• A willingness to attend key tradeshows and explore regions for new itinerary development.

Who will love this job:

• An entrepreneur – you thrive in a fast-paced environment; and expect to roll up your sleeves and dig into the work regularly. You desire to be a part of a fast-growing company where the only constant is change.
• An innovator – an opportunistic mindset; you have the ability to think outside of the box and maintain a flexible approach to creation.
• A driver – you are pragmatic, resilient, and energetic with an ability to mobilize resources and build strong alliances, both internally and externally.
• An organizer – you have superb organizational skills, attention to detail, and ability to execute a plan in a methodical, structured way.
• A problem solver – you have the ability to problem solve and are able to deal with complex issues bringing a systematic, mathematical, and analytical approach which is critical to this role.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and associated industry or related business experience.
• 15+ years of market strategy or product development management experience with demonstrated ability to deliver products to the market that generate sales and profit.
• 10+ years in a management role leading cross-functional teams. Ability to collaborate and enable teams to work toward a common goal, both internally and externally.
• Experience in a premium/luxury service business. Ability to bring a clear sense of style and brand consistency to our premium and luxury product.
• Demonstrated experience working with key industry suppliers (Hotel chains/Cruise/Airlines) and an understanding of the Tours Market/Specialist Travel/Luxury Travel space is an asset.
• Outstanding research and analytical capabilities, to maintain awareness of the market and competitors.
• Strong project management mindset and is hyper organized in approach in delivering and managing product portfolio.
• A willingness to attend key tradeshows and explore regions for new itinerary development.
• Demonstrated ability to think strategically yet maintain contact with day-to-day performance. Hands on with high energy, an entrepreneurial spirit, and a positive attitude.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Well-travelled such that one has a deep understanding of product possibilities.

Additional Information

NOTE: This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive. Employee may perform other related duties to meet the ongoing needs of the organization.

We thank all candidates for their interest however only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

Travel Edge is committed to providing employment accommodation in accordance with the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. If you require accommodation due to a disability at any stage of our hiring process, please advise us when completing your application.

Company: Kensington Tours

Expected salary:

Location: Toronto, ON

Job date: Thu, 20 May 2021 22:24:41 GMT