Manager of Airline Partnerships, Navan
More information about location
Travel management company
Be an early applicant
Travel management company
1001+ employees
Be an early applicant
More information about location
1001+ employees
Company mission
To reinvent the legacy category of travel and expense with one of the first enterprise technologies utilising the cloud, mobile, and AI to balance business needs with today's modern standards.
Role
Who you are
- 5+ years of experience in airline partnerships, travel supply, distribution, commercial account management, or a related travel industry role, ideally working with or for airlines
- A track record of leading commercial negotiations and growing partner relationships, with clear examples of revenue growth, stronger economics, or improved customer value
- A strong understanding of airline distribution, including global distribution systems (GDS), New Distribution Capability (NDC), and direct connections, and how these affect content, pricing, and servicing
- Strong analytical and financial skills, including advanced Excel or Google Sheets proficiency and the ability to build forecasts, assess profitability, and turn data into a clear course of action
- Excellent written and verbal communication in English
- Sound judgment, strong organization, and a bias toward action. You can manage a portfolio independently, navigate ambiguity, and coordinate multiple teams to deliver results
- Bachelor’s degree in business, economics, hospitality, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience
What the job involves
- At Navan, airline partnerships shape the content, choice, and service our travelers experience
- As Manager, Airline Partnerships, you'll own and grow a portfolio of airline partners across the Americas, securing competitive content and commercial agreements that create value for travelers, airline partners, and Navan
- You'll lead negotiations, turn performance data into growth opportunities, and work with Product and Operations to bring better airline content to our customers
- This role combines relationship building with commercial rigor: you'll have the autonomy to develop your supplier relationships, influence our airline strategy, and see your work translate into revenue growth and a better booking experience
- Build and grow relationships with carriers across the Americas, conduct business reviews, and engage with key partner stakeholders, with particular emphasis on South America
- Lead airline partner engagement for Navan Signature Services and act as its airline partnerships subject matter expert across Navan Premier, Navan Events, Navan Specialty, and Navan Concierge
- Evaluate, negotiate, and renew airline agreements, including incentives, content access, and marketing opportunities
- Own revenue forecasts, track incentive attainment and partner commitments, and monitor booking trends and profitability. Identify performance gaps early and execute plans to meet or exceed commercial goals
- Analyze deal economics, model commercial scenarios, and translate complex data into clear recommendations for senior leadership and airline partners
- Partner with suppliers, Product, Engineering, and Operations to expand access to competitive fares and relevant content across various content channels
- Coordinate with Finance, Sales, Customer Success, Marketing, and other stakeholders on partner initiatives. Equip customer-facing teams with clear airline updates and resolve issues that affect partnership performance
- Build our industry relationships at partner meetings and events, and bring insights on airline retailing, distribution trends, and emerging risks back to the team
Our take
Navan (formerly known as TripActions) is operating in a crowded marketplace, betting against rivals with similar offerings of user interface personalisation technology. Even so, the company's growth has skyrocketed, and it has attracted significant investor interest. Competitors cannot match Navan's cutting-edge, AI-driven services, as well as 24-hour customer support.
Since its founding in 2015, the company has seen significant growth in transactions and in active users. Having expanded from its core travel expense management product, it now offers a corporate card and general expenses management, underwriting its customers' short-term business expenses with its own Liquid financial offering. Navan has a list of impressive clients, including Glassdoor, Zoom, and Shopify.
Moving forwards, the company is focused on gaining more reach, especially in Europe. As part of the expanded go-to-market strategy, it rebranded to Navan with a more people-centric design approach. It also combined its travel, corporate card and expense services into a single app which is now available to individual users rather than only through a corporate account. This will be key in bridging the gap between business travel and consumer apps, especially in the lead-up to its reported IPO in the near future.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
Company
Funding (last 2 of 10 rounds)
Oct 2025
$150m
SERIES G
Oct 2022
$154m
SERIES G
Total funding: $1.2bn
Company benefits
- Flexible Vacation
- Healthcare
- Commuter benefits
- Parental leave
- Health and Wellness
- Fuel for Connection
- Pet Friendly
- 401k (retirement plan)
- IATAN (travel-related discounts)
- Connectivity Allowance
- Learning & Development
Company HQ
Ventura, Palo Alto, CA
Leadership
Ariel Cohen
(Co-Founder & CEO)Research and Development director in Mercury Interactive (and HP after acquisition of Mercury). Product Management director, then VP, at Jive Software. Previously co-founded StreamOnce with Ilan.
Ilan Twig
(Co-Founder & CTO)Studied Computer Science, managing positions in software engineering including VP and EVP of engineering at Jive Software. Previously co-founded StreamOnce with Ariel.
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