Department: Sense of Africa Kenya

Location: Nairobi, Kenya

• We are seeking a dynamic, commercially astute, and strategically driven Tours & Travel Manager to provide overall leadership support and accountability for the Sense Getaways business unit. This is a senior leadership role responsible for driving the strategic direction, commercial performance, revenue growth, profitability, market expansion, and operational excellence of the portfolio.The role will be key to managing Sense Getaways’ business across Drifters, Pure Sports, domestic market sales, Outbound Travel, travel and ticketing, experiential and leisure travel, corporate experiences, events and other specialized activities managed within the department. The successful candidate will be responsible for identifying and converting new market opportunities, developing and commercializing innovative travel products and experiences, strengthening strategic partnerships, and ensuring the portfolio remains competitive, relevant and profitable.Working as part of the senior leadership structure, the Sense Getaways Manager will contribute to wider business strategy, commercial planning, governance and decision-making, while providing clear direction to the team and ensuring delivery against agreed business, financial and customer experience objectives.The ideal candidate will combine strong commercial acumen with operational depth, product expertise, business development capability and proven leadership experience within travel, tourism, hospitality, sports travel, corporate experiences or a related commercial service environment.

• Provide strategic, commercial and operational leadership for Sense Getaways, establishing clear direction, priorities and performance expectations across the portfolio.
• Develop and execute the annual business strategy, business plans, budgets, forecasts and commercial priorities, with accountability for revenue growth, profitability, margins, market expansion and cost management.
• Drive business development and revenue generation by identifying new markets, client segments, partnerships, distribution channels, and commercial opportunities, and converting these into sustainable business streams.
• Lead the development, positioning, pricing and commercialization of travel products, experiences, sports travel, events and specialized propositions, ensuring the portfolio responds to changing customer needs and market opportunities.
• Continuously evaluate the portfolio’s performance and market relevance, identifying opportunities to scale successful products, improve underperforming propositions, and introduce new revenue-generating initiatives.
• Oversee the integration and performance of product development, sales, travel operations, reservations, ticketing, tours, and service delivery, ensuring operational efficiency, accuracy, quality, and an exceptional customer experience.
• Lead, coach, and performance-manage the Team Leader SG, Product & Commercial Lead, Travel & Ticketing Supervisor, and the wider team, creating a culture of accountability, collaboration, innovation, ownership, and high performance.
• Build and maintain strong strategic relationships with corporate clients, key accounts, suppliers, airlines, hotels, tourism partners, sports federations, event organizers, destination partners, and internal regional teams to strengthen the business ecosystem and generate growth opportunities.
• Represent Sense Getaways at relevant industry, corporate, tourism, sports, and commercial forums to strengthen the company’s profile, market positioning, and strategic relationships.
• Develop and monitor sales pipelines, revenue forecasts, conversion performance, product performance and key commercial KPIs, ensuring timely intervention and corrective action where required.
• Ensure effective financial management, pricing discipline, yield optimization, and cost control across the portfolio.
• Champion innovation, technology, digitalization and the effective use of data and AI to improve productivity, customer engagement, decision-making and commercial performance.
• Ensure robust governance, risk management, compliance, reporting and internal controls, including timely management reporting, audit follow-up and implementation of corrective actions.
• Work collaboratively with other business units and regional teams to identify cross-selling, collaboration, and portfolio-wide growth opportunities.
• Build a strong succession pipeline by developing people, transferring knowledge, and ensuring business continuity and leadership readiness within the team.

• Bachelor’s degree in Tourism Management, Hospitality Management, Business Administration, Marketing, or a related field.
• Minimum of eight years’ progressive experience in travel, tourism, hospitality, sports travel, corporate experiences, events, or a related commercial environment.
• At least five years’ experience in a senior leadership or management role, preferably with responsibility for both commercial and operational teams.
• Demonstrated track record of growing revenue, developing new business, managing commercial performance, and delivering profitable business results.
• Strong understanding of product development, pricing, sales, business development, customer experience, and travel operations.
• Proven ability to translate market intelligence and emerging opportunities into commercially viable products, partnerships and revenue streams.
• Strong financial and commercial capability, including experience with budgets, forecasting, profitability, revenue management, and performance analysis.
• Demonstrated ability to lead, motivate, develop, and hold teams accountable while fostering a high-performance and collaborative culture.
• Excellent strategic thinking, negotiation, communication, presentation, stakeholder management, and relationship-building skills.
• Strong digital and technology orientation, with the ability to leverage CRM platforms, travel systems, data, digital sales tools, and emerging technologies, including AI, to improve business performance.
• Experience with TourPlan and Microsoft Office Suite will be an added advantage

• The successful candidate will be a strategic and commercially minded business leader who is equally comfortable setting direction at senior management level and being hands-on in identifying and converting business opportunities.They will have the entrepreneurial mindset to build, grow, and continuously evolve a diverse travel and experiences portfolio, combined with the operational discipline to ensure consistent delivery and exceptional customer experiences.They will be passionate about travel, experiences, sports-related travel, domestic tourism and corporate engagement solutions, and will demonstrate a proven ability to turn market opportunities into sustainable revenue, profitable growth and long-term partnerships.

The salary for this position is competitive and dependent on relevant experience.

ONLY CANDIDATES WITH THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS WILL BE CONSIDERED.
WHILST WE DO OUR BEST TO REPLY TO EACH APPLICATION, NON-COMPLIANCE WITH THE ABOVE REQUIREMENTS MAY BE THE CAUSE FOR OUR NON-RESPONSE.