Vendor Manager

About This Role

This individual contributor role involves managing high-stakes negotiations with airline and hotel suppliers to secure the best commercial terms for TravClan. The Vendor Manager will take full ownership of vendor outcomes, focusing on protecting company margins and resolving disputes decisively. The role reports directly to the Co-founder and requires a candidate who is assertive and persistent in negotiations.

Responsibilities

• Own vendor relationships and negotiations across flights and hotels, securing the best possible commercial terms
• Resolve disputes decisively, and protect company margins without compromise
• Lead and own high-stakes negotiations with flight and hotel suppliers to secure the best possible rates, allocations, and commercial terms
• Take full ownership of vendor disputes and escalations, holding firm on commercial terms even under sustained pressure
• Own vendor contracts, rate loading, renewals, and ongoing compliance with agreed terms
• Continuously push for better commercial terms and protect company margins in every vendor interaction
• Work with sales and operations teams to resolve vendor-side issues that affect travel agents and end customers

Requirements

• Minimum 10 years of experience in vendor/supplier management, ideally in flights and hotels
• Comfortable holding your ground in tough, high-pressure negotiations
• Persistent, not someone who takes no for an answer easily
• Proven track record protecting margins in adversarial, high-stakes negotiations
• Willing and able to work as a strong individual contributor, without a team to lean on
• Enjoy negotiating hard and holding firm under pressure
• Enjoy working independently, without a team to manage or lean on
• Enjoy protecting company margins in every deal
• Enjoy long, difficult, and repetitive negotiation cycles
• Good at assertive, high-pressure negotiation
• Good at staying unshaken through friction and disagreement
• Good at closing challenging deals with confidence and resolve
• Good at owning disputes end-to-end and resolving them directly
• Excited by building a reputation as a firm, highly effective negotiator
• Excited by directly and measurably moving company margins through every vendor deal you close
• Excited by owning vendor relationships end-to-end, with full accountability

Benefits

• Direct, regular access to the founding team
• Full ownership of vendor negotiation outcomes from day one
• A high-ownership, individual contributor role with no team management overhead