VP, Sports - Jobs in Toronto, ON

Job Description

Company DescriptionFounded 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 DescriptionIdeally based in Toronto, the Vice President, Sports at Kensington Tours will be responsible for sales and product leadership for a newly created Sports division. This includes defining the business strategy, building a sales team and expanding Kensington’s unique product offering. Managing end-to-end sales operations processes including training, technology, client experience and employee engagement is also integral to the role.The ideal candidate will have proven experience developing sports itineraries and active vacations and a combination of visionary leadership, sales management, operations strategy development and execution, a strong metrics/data driven orientation. The ability to create and lead high performing teams within a nimble, entrepreneurial environment is a must. The successful candidate is a leader who can tap into their people’s individual motivation, who leads by example and who models the behavior needed to create success in his/her team. They will have proven experience in assessing the development needs required by the organization and the know-how to implement an efficient multi-phased sales program for both in-house and remote consultants. They will be a “process builder’, with the ability to transition between high-level visions and detail-oriented execution and have had success at translating business vision into action for aggressive growth.Product and Marketing

• Define the product and partner strategy
• Develop unique experiences featuring world class sporting events
• Develop active itineraries featured golf and ski
• Partner with Marketing to develop marketing plans for multi-channel (direct and agent) customers
• Work with the Product team to set the product direction and itinerary design
• Partner with Procurement on sourcing preferred cruise partners and pricing

People

• Ability to motivate and drive profitable sales growth
• Lead the recruitment and training process for sales specialists and other support staff
• Achieve sales training objectives by developing, implementing, and managing ongoing sales training programs that enable staff to achieve their potential and drive productivity, quality, employee engagement, satisfaction, and retention results
• Collaborate with our Learning & Development team in the development and implementation of sales and training budgets, performance metrics, KPI’s and targets aligned to sales, productivity, quality, and customer service standards
• Define an oversee incentive programs that motivate the sales team to achieve their sales targets

Clients/Partners

• Accountable for Net Promoter Score response rate and results and sharing results with our partner network to support insight sharing, issue management & problem resolution to drive efficiencies and improve the end-to-end customer experience
• Analyze customer feedback from various sources to quickly identify opportunities for improvement with the development of a project plan/roadmap for achievement
• Lead and drive a customer focused culture, in collaboration with other key functional partners, to drive efficiencies and improve customer experience
• Collaborate with various stakeholder groups (i.e., Learning & Development, Product & Procurement) to develop customer-centric and relevant training solutions for both the Sales and Customer Care Teams that meet business and operational needs and standards
• Communicate Operations updates effectively with the sales floor via weekly and monthly updates, internal newsletters, and Sales meetings
• Work with our partners to support capability building, best practice, and standards implementation, strengthen two-way communication, collaboration and deliver a consistent brand experience across the network

Process

• Use NPS and other customer feedback to gain insights on how to improve the customer experience and ensure the overall effectiveness of the team with the goal of driving innovation and continuous improvement
• Provide leadership for problem resolution/issue management, analyzing and providing solutions
• Work closely with multi-level customer contacts (sales team, vendor partners, client, agent) to answer questions, resolve problems and recommend corrective actions where needed to address escalated situations
• Ensure processes and systems are in place to effectively manage the operational details

Technology

• Work with the technology platform director to develop a product roadmap to optimize performance for Sales Experts, Operations team, and external partners
• Work with Technology and Marketing to map the customer lifecycle journey and to personalize the client experience based on repeat traveler information

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and associated industry or related business experience
• 15+ years of travel sales operations management experience in the travel or events industry with demonstrated ability to drive revenue growth, streamline operations and improve profitability
• 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
• Industry experience with luxury and bespoke travel product and their associated markets an asset
• 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/Golf Courses/Ski Resorts) and an understanding of the Tours Market/Specialist Travel/Luxury Travel space is an asset
• Outstanding research and analytical capabilities
• Strong project management mindset and is hyper organized in approach in delivering and managing operations
• 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

Additional InformationCultural Fit – people like working here if they

• Thrive working in a KPI driven organization.
• Have an entrepreneurial mindset
• Learn from what’s working and not working
• Build trust and work maturely through conflict both upwards and downward

We know our success is dependent on the people who join our team, which is why we recruit the best. Our team is made up of owners; people who are smart, low ego, and who are accountable for their results. We all play a part in the success of the company and are proud of what we do.We thank all candidates for their interest however only those selected for an interview will be contacted.We are 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.Quick Apply

• Terms & Conditions
• New Privacy
• Privacy Center
• Accessibility

For Job Seekers

• Browse Jobs
• Advanced Job Search
• Emplois Quebec

For Employers

• Post a Job

Stay Connected