Senior Director of Ad Sales, KAYAK
$180-200k
+ Commission-based compensation
Travel search engine
Be an early applicant
Travel search engine
1001+ employees
Be an early applicant
$180-200k
+ Commission-based compensation
1001+ employees
Company mission
To help millions of travelers around the globe make confident travel decisions.
Role
Who you are
- We’re looking for a leader who brings exceptional sales energy and a passion for winning, coupled with the analytical mindset to uncover growth opportunities, identify performance gaps, and make data-driven decisions
- The ideal candidate pairs a passion for driving growth and winning business with expertise in commercial strategy, customer success, and product innovation
- Demonstrated experience in digital advertising sales, including leading and developing a sales team toward shared revenue goals
- Strong understanding of the digital advertising ecosystem and evolving industry trends
- A track record of building and growing advertiser or agency relationships, ideally in a travel, media, or technology environment — equivalent experience in adjacent industries is warmly considered
- The ability to use data to understand performance, identify opportunities, and tell a clear story to partners and internal stakeholders
- Strong communication and relationship-building skills, with comfort engaging both external partners and internal cross-functional collaborators
- Experience working in a fast-moving environment where priorities shift and cross-team collaboration is essential
- A thoughtful, people-first approach to leadership — you care about the growth and wellbeing of the people you work with
What the job involves
- KAYAK is seeking a dynamic and commercially driven Senior Director, Ad Sales to lead our North American advertising business
- His is a highly visible leadership role responsible for driving revenue growth, developing high-performing sales and account management teams, and influencing the future of our advertising products
- Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing ad sales team, creating an environment where people can grow and do their best work
- Own and grow KAYAK's North American advertising revenue, setting ambitious goals and driving the team to deliver against them
- Build and sustain strong, trust-based relationships with advertising partners, agencies, and travel brands
- Collaborate closely with product, marketing, and commercial partnerships teams to develop compelling, data-informed advertising solutions that meet partner needs
- Use performance data and market insights to identify opportunities, refine strategy, and communicate results clearly to senior leadership and partners
- Represent KAYAK externally at industry events, partner meetings, and business reviews, serving as an expert ambassador for KAYAK's advertising offering
- Work cross-functionally with the broader NORAM commercial team to align ad sales efforts with KAYAK's overall regional strategy
- Contribute to a collaborative, inclusive team culture that reflects KAYAK's values
Application process
- Deadline to Apply: 14 June 2026 at 23:00 BST
Our take
KAYAK is a travel agency and metasearch engine owned and operated by Booking Holdings. KAYAK processes over 6 billion queries across its platforms each year for travel information - as one of the world’s leading travel search engines, KAYAK searches other sites to show travellers the information they need to find the right flights, hotels, rental cars and vacation packages. It offers a variety of tools and features such as KAYAK trips, explore, and price forecast.
There’s been speculation over the years about online travel companies getting into the hotel business, and KAYAK is no exception. The company is expanding its hospitality offerings beyond its traditional hotel referral and booking services, but despite speculation through the 2020s, has stopped short of opening hotels under its own brand, preferring to partner with preexisting companies on their hotel tech.
Since being acquired by Booking Holdings, the global leader in online travel, in 2013, KAYAK has continued to expand and innovate, enhancing the travel experience for users all around the world. And now KAYAK manages a portfolio of metasearch brands including SWOODOO, checkfelix, momondo, Cheapflights, Mundi and HotelsCombined. With the aim to make it easier for everyone to experience the world - it now operates sites in more than 70 countries and territories.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
6% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Company benefits
- Work flexibly: Our global flexible work policy lets our teams decide if they head into one of our offices or work from anywhere else
- Team-wide time off: Most of our team disconnects at the same time each year to recharge and reconnect
- Global volunteer week: Take VTO (Volunteer Time Off) to support the organizations and charitable efforts you believe in
- Wellness: We take care of each other - providing opportunities and spaces to live that work-life balance
- Resource groups: Our five ERGs are employee-led groups for underrepresented communities and their allies
- Career growth: We provide opportunities for our team to develop their skills – or learn new ones – on their own terms
Company HQ
East Side of Stamford, Stamford, CT
Leadership
Steve Hafner
(Co-Founder & CEO)Previously Board Member of Trulia, Blade and SeatGeek and currently an Executive at OpenTable.
Salary benchmarks
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