Rabbie’s operate one of the largest selections of scheduled tours in the UK and Ireland, as well as a European scheduled tour programme, in addition to also offering a trade exclusive FIT programme and private tours.
The successful applicant will be responsible for managing two teams – the accommodation placement team, as well as the contracting team.
The role will involve ensuring the successful delivery of the full contracting and supplier booking process – from identifying Rabbie’s contracting requirements and ensuring they contract enough allocations, to making sure the services are loaded on the system and used for bookings – for scheduled tours, as well as the FIT programme and bespoke groups. To do this, you will be supported by a team of contractors, accommodation administrators and a team leader.
Part of the role will be assisting the IT team in developing Rabbie’s internal booking system to support the accommodation placement, booking and contracting processes. You will also need to develop manual processes to support the teams while some system processes are being developed.
You will have the ability to organise and communicate effectively which will be essential in this role, as well as the ability to drive performance in a fast-paced environment that is experiencing growth.
Key responsibilities:
Managing the Accommodation (placement) team:
- Manage a team of Accommodation Administrators and a Team Leader, responsible for placing and booking accommodation for passengers on our scheduled tours
- Manage the day-to-day running of the Accommodation team (rotas, payroll, team appraisals etc), assisted by the Team Leader
- Monitor and manage the full allocation process, including allocation requirements, driver-guide beds, close-out dates etc
- Continual monitoring of allocations, to ensure the tour operations are not affected by lack of accommodation
- Help develop our internal accommodation allocation booking system
- Help develop and implement processes and procedures, and roll out training on processes to team, to build efficiencies in the team’s work
- Revenue management tasks – collate and feed information into commercial team
Managing the Contracting team:
- Manage a team of contractors responsible for contracting all accommodation (hotels, B&Bs and hostels) and non-accommodation (attractions, ferries, transfers etc) services for our scheduled tours, FIT programmes and tailor-made group tours
- Manage the day-to-day running of the Contracting team (team appraisals, 1-2-1s, payroll etc)
- Manage the full contracting process, from outlining requirements to completion of signed contracts, for our tours in the UK and Ireland, as well as our European programme (currently Spain, Portugal, Italy and Switzerland)
- Ensure contracts and terms & conditions are issued to suppliers and signed
- Ensure accommodation and rates are available for the FIT programme and scheduled tours in time for annual release
- Manage a contracting tracking system and ensure that this is kept up to date
- Help develop our internal supplier allocation booking system
- Ensure your team are aware of all processes and procedures to build efficiencies in the team’s work
- Liaise with the Head of Contracting & Product on new product developments, to ensure they are contracted
General:
- Work with the Head of Contracting & Product to define key objectives for the department
- Support the implementation of Rabbie’s business plan and KPIs, through cascading KPIs to your team as personal goals, objectives, and targets
- Report regularly on departmental KPIs and our progress towards them
- Produce regular reports on performance, P&Ls, targets, etc
- Monitor performance and modify plans where appropriate to keep pace with changing business priorities
- Work with all other departments to ensure all products are accurately loaded on to our systems
- Work with other departments and our development team, to develop our booking system to manage new products
- Produce a timeline to suit all departments and the Rabbie’s product cycle
- Investigating invoice queries, and authorising invoices
- Be the escalation point for issues, complaints and invoice disputes
- Organise and facilitate regular team meetings and team communications
- Develop the teams, capturing training needs and encouraging development
- Planning site visits for the teams
Key skills & experience:
- Experience in the tourism or hospitality industry
- Team management experience
- Experience with accommodation allocations
- Previous experience using booking systems and / or accommodation channel managers
- Proven ability to solve problems promptly and effectively
- Analytical skills, and the ability to use data to make recommendations and create reports
- Proven interpersonal and communication skills
- Meticulous attention to detail
- Experience in developing and implementing processes
- Strong IT skills (MS Office, booking systems etc) and the ability to adapt to new packages and software
- Self-motivated with the ability to take ownership to work autonomously and use your own initiative, as well as working as part of a team
- Strong customer service skills, and supplier relationship management experience
- Knowledge of HR principles and policies
- Commercial awareness and understanding of sales figures and targeting
How to apply: please send your CV and covering letter to [email protected].
About Rabbie’s: Rabbie’s Tours offer the largest programme of multi-award winning, guaranteed departure, small group tours in the UK and Ireland. Our scheduled tours range from 1 to 17 days, departing from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Aberdeen, London, Manchester and Dublin. We also provide the Travel Trade with a variety of products from private/bespoke tours and city-break and themed packages, to self-drive and rail tours.
