Sales Manager in Southampton, United Kingdom

Job Description

Cunard are a leading luxury cruise line name, dedicated to delivering unforgettable holiday happiness to our guests. Our success is built on a foundation of diverse talents and perspectives, and we believe in fostering an inclusive environment where everyone can thrive.

In our continuous journey of growth and innovation at Carnival UK, we are seeking a Sales Manager, Consortia & Direct Partners to bring fresh insights and expertise to our Cunard department.

Role Overview

In this exciting role, you’ll be the driving force behind account management for a select portfolio of Consortia Travel Agent partners. Your mission? To unlock new revenue streams and maximize business opportunities with both head offices and consortia members! You’ll be constantly seeking out and building new partnerships to broaden Cunard’s distribution model, all while shaping business plans that ensure growth and help hit those all-important success KPIs.

You’ll work closely with the Business Manager, Development & Engagement, ensuring senior relationships with your travel agent partners remain strong and productive. Collaborating with other Business Managers, you’ll help bring the business plans to life through consistent and impactful engagement.

Additionally, you’ll take ownership of our Direct Partners, like Tesco Clubcard, and be on the lookout for new partners to create a thriving closed-user-group distribution network. With your strategic mindset and team collaboration, you’ll play a pivotal role in driving the success of Cunard’s business.

Key responsibilities include:

• Account Management: Develop and execute contact strategies for consortia and Direct partners, managing commercial relationships and marketing budgets. Serve as the primary contact for queries and escalations, and implement strategies to maintain and grow partnerships.

• Sales Delivery: Monitor and report on sales performance, develop sales plans, and collaborate with Trade Marketing & Sales Operations to implement training for frontline sales staff. Track cmpetitor activity and provide updates to the Business Manager, Development & Engagement.

• Business Development: Identify new business opportunities, evaluate partnerships, and conduct market research to expand Cunard’s distribution network.

• Customer Relationship Management: Foster strong internal and external relationships, working with other functions to maximize efficiencies and encourage a collaborative environment. Build relationships with senior management at key partners and act as a point of escalation.

• Marketing & Promotions: Deliver marketing plans at partner level, utilizing the Shine Rewards Club to engage frontline staff. Implement tactical incentives and provide market intelligence on sales performance.

• Budget & Commercial Management: Collaborate with the Business Manager to ensure budget accuracy and evolve spend allocations based on performance reviews. Ensure compliance with budget allocations for travel and expenses.

• People & Culture Management: Support the development of a high-performance sales culture, ensuring accountability, collaboration, and team spirit while recognizing high performance.

Required Qualifications and Skills:

• Working in A sales environment with account management responsibilities- Marketing experience, in particular direct mail, press or online- Proven track record in delivering return on spend and achieving targets- Trade relationship management- in depth knowledge of IT packages including Excel, Word, Power Point

About You

You are someone who thrives in a collaborative environment yet can work independently with a high degree of accuracy and accountability. Your qualifications are just the start; we’re looking for team members who are eager to learn, grow, and contribute to our collective success.

Why Join Us?

Positioned within our internal structure from CUK15 (entry level) to CUK1 (Brand President), this role is classified as a CUK 8, offered as a full-time position, on a permanent basis, with hybrid working including up to two days from home.

We offer a dynamic and inclusive workplace where your work makes a real impact. Beyond competitive salaries and benefits, here’s what we offer:

• Employee Discounted Cruising plus Friends and Family offers

• Annual bonus

• A friendly welcome with help settling in

• Regular office events including live entertainment, lifestyle events and charity partner fundraisers

• Extensive learning and development opportunities

• Minimum 25 days leave, bank holiday allowance and holiday trading scheme

• Employee-led networks

• Employee Assistance and Wellbeing programmes

• Recognition scheme with prizes and awards

• Contributory Defined Contribution Pension scheme

• In-house Occupational Health help and access to digital GP

• Life Assurance

• Parental and adoption leave

• Employee Shares Plan

• Electric Car and Cycle to Work schemes

• Onsite restaurant offering range of healthy cooked and grab and go meals

• Discounted retail and leisure via discounts portal

Application Note

Given the opportunities we provide, we encourage prompt applications. We are committed to finding the right blend of talent and passion, and our recruitment process may close earlier than advertised for roles with high applicant volumes.

Don’t miss this chance to leverage your accounting qualifications in a role where you can truly shine. Apply today and let’s explore how your skills and ambitions align with our opportunities!

#LI-Hybrid – This will set the job to show the Workplace type of ‘Hybrid’

#Job Functions: Sales

Jess Truman – #LI-JT1

About Us

Holidays are one of life’s greatest pleasures. Having the chance to relax, escape and explore is a magical thing. And there is no better holiday than a cruise.

No one knows cruising like Carnival UK, where talented people from across the globe come together to create unforgettable holiday happiness. As part of the world’s largest holiday travel and leisure company, we take enormous pride in bringing to life two of the most iconic brands from Britain’s rich seafaring heritage, P&O Cruises and Cunard. Collectively they have been delivering unbridled joy, boundless adventure and lifelong memories to millions of people for over 350 years. And in a multi-million pound global holiday market, where cruising has barely scratched the surface, we have the opportunity to do that for many, many more people.

Our diverse yet tight knit teams share high standards, heartfelt values and passion for our purpose. Our Culture Essentials describe the expectations we have for ourselves and of each other, in building a culture that supports safe, sustainable, compliant operations and celebrates diversity, equity and inclusion.

It’s through the successful delivery of these extraordinary travel experiences for our target markets and our distinctive culture, that we hope to become Travel’s Employer of Choice.

About the Team

The Cunard Sales and Marketing team are instrumental in the success of Cunard and our aim to be the benchmark of luxury travel. Our marketing teams maximize opportunity and create focused, meaningful communications that help to grow existing audiences as well as appealing to new ones. We have experts across advertising, CRM, brand, PR, digital, loyalty and the creative studio who work together collaboratively to create unforgettable holiday happiness. Our sales teams develop and grow partnerships ensuring they have the finest knowledge of our products. Our teams also manage sales communications, systems, and events to provide the best tools and support, ensuring that our travel trade partners are at the centre of all that we do. In addition to supporting travel agents, the sales team provide support to a team of ship based sales managers and work with third parties to find new routes to market for our brand.

Join us on our journey – apply now.