Distribution Manager Partnerships

Distribution Manager Location: Remote - UK Reporting to: Head of Distribution Direct reports: Distribution team members (x4)

Overview : The Distribution Manager is responsible for leading and developing part of our Distribution team, while helping shape how the wider function evolves. This is a hands-on leadership role combining people management, operational excellence and continuous improvement, with the opportunity to influence how we organise our work as the team and distribution landscape grows. You’ll create the conditions for the team to perform at its best, bringing clarity to priorities, developing our people and ensuring we deliver an excellent service to our hotel partners. Just as importantly, you’ll bring fresh thinking to how we work: identifying opportunities to simplify processes, improve workflows and use technology, automation and AI to make our Distribution function more effective and scalable. We’re looking for someone who is curious, commercially minded and comfortable challenging the status quo. You’ll work closely with the Head of Distribution and other Distribution leaders to turn opportunities into practical improvements, while ensuring the team remains focused on the areas that create the greatest value for our hotels and the wider business. Distribution sits at the heart of how our hotels reach our members and customers. As our business, technology and partner needs evolve, we want to make sure the way we work evolves with them. As part of a fully remote company, you will work closely with the wider Distribution team and other departments, ensuring the business continues to invest in the areas of largest return.

Responsibilities: Team leadership Lead a key area of the Distribution function, with accountability for its people, priorities, performance and delivery. Create clarity around responsibilities, priorities and expectations, helping the team understand how their work contributes to our wider Distribution and business goals. Coach, develop and empower team members through regular 1:1s, feedback and meaningful development opportunities. Build a culture of ownership where people are trusted to investigate problems, make recommendations and drive solutions. Recognise and develop individual strengths and specialisms, creating opportunities for people to grow. Set clear expectations around performance and provide the support and challenge needed to achieve them. Ensure effective communication and collaboration across the team, particularly where responsibilities or priorities span different areas of Distribution.

Operational excellence Own the performance of your area, ensuring work is prioritised effectively and our hotel partners and internal teams receive a consistently high standard of service. Use data, workload trends, team insight and partner feedback to understand performance and identify where attention or change is needed. Establish clear ways of working, ownership and escalation routes so the team can resolve issues effectively and independently. Balance short-term operational priorities with the need to address longer-term challenges and opportunities. Ensure important issues and escalations are understood, appropriately prioritised and progressed through to resolution. Look beyond individual cases and tasks to understand patterns, dependencies and opportunities across the operation. Work with fellow Distribution leaders to deploy our people and resources where they can have the greatest impact.

Improvement and transformation Identify recurring problems, unnecessary complexity and inefficient processes, and challenge whether there is a better way of doing things. Focus on addressing root causes rather than allowing repeat work and workarounds to become embedded. Build and prioritise a clear pipeline of improvements based on impact, effort and business value. Simplify workflows and processes to help the team spend more time on work that creates value for our hotel partners. Champion the effective use of technology, automation, AI and self-service where they can improve efficiency, quality or the partner experience. Encourage the team to identify improvement opportunities and involve them in investigating problems, designing solutions and testing changes. Take ideas from problem identification through to implementation, ensuring improvements become embedded in the way the team works. Measure the impact of changes and continue to iterate where opportunities remain.

Collaborate and influence Work closely with the Head of Distribution and fellow Distribution leaders to help shape priorities and the future direction of the function. Build strong relationships across Mr & Mrs Smith, particularly with teams whose work influences hotel distribution and the partner experience. Partner with Product, Technology and other teams to translate operational challenges and opportunities into practical, scalable solutions. Represent Distribution confidently in cross-functional conversations, bringing clear insight into performance, opportunities, risks and priorities. Use strong judgement and influence to progress issues that sit outside the team's direct control. Help ensure Distribution continues to operate as one joined-up function, even as individual leaders take ownership of different areas. Contribute to how the Distribution operating model evolves as our business, technology and hotel partner needs change.

Requirements: 5+ years of travel industry experience, preferably within an online travel agent or other online environment Strong knowledge of hotel distribution and an understanding of rates, availability, inventory and the systems and processes that enable hotels to sell effectively. A track record of improving operations - not just identifying problems, but taking improvements from idea through to implementation. Strong technical curiosity and an enthusiasm for exploring how technology, automation and AI can improve the way teams work. An analytical mindset, with the ability to use data and insight to identify problems, make decisions and prioritise opportunities. Ability to remain calm and positive under pressure, and to analyse and diplomatically resolve difficult situations Experience leading and developing a team with an emphasis on empathy and collaboration and empowerment Confidence delegating ownership, empowering team members to work independently and creating accountability Strong stakeholder management skills and the ability to influence people outside your immediate team. A love of problem solving, troubleshooting ­- you need to be the kind of person who likes to get to the bottom of an issue and takes pride in being able to push through a solution Commercial awareness and the judgement to balance partner experience, operational performance and business value. Ability to work in a fast-paced team, prioritising a busy workload Exceptional communication skills and an innate ability to engage people from all walks of life Attention to detail and exemplary follow up Love of boutique travel and a keen eye for style and design Fluency in a second language to business standard (preferred but not essential) Legal eligibility to work in the relevant regional office Sustainability As a manager you may have to hire new team members. When doing so, you must adhere to the equal opportunities policy that we have as a business. This means you must: Ensure all CV's are 'blind' using the recruitment process in place Take care not to insert bias into job advertisements and role descriptions Be aware of our diversity goals and do your best to open the opportunity to apply for a role to people from diverse backgrounds, identities and beliefs. Mr & Mrs Smith celebrates diversity; we do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.