Commercial Accounts Advisor

Belonging to Air Canada is to belong to a Canadian symbol, Air Canada recently voted best airline in North America. Take your career off by joining our innovative and diverse team at the forefront of passenger air transport.

The primary task of the Commercial Accounts Advisor is to maximize Air Canada sales by building relationships with the industry and developing and maintaining existing relationships, while establishing and deepening new commercial relationships. The incumbent will manage and grow the business of Air Canada's current commercial customers in terms of revenue and market share in Australia or with assigned accounts, with the flexibility to support other travel agency segments in the future based on evolving business needs.

This person will be responsible for raising Air Canada's profile by planning and organizing commercial activities focused on regular communication with travel management companies, business travel agency managers, direct corporate clients and travel managers.

Working within an agreed budget while negotiating mutually beneficial agreements with preferred carriers, incentive bonus agreements and corporate contracts with travel management companies, corporate clients and other partner travel agencies as the portfolio evolves.

Responsibilities :

• Develop and implement sales strategies and plans to achieve revenue and market share targets for designated accounts, travel management companies and corporate clients in the Australian market, while supporting other travel agency segments as needed.
• Develop and implement sales strategies to increase business from existing commercial clients and market share among designated clients and partners within traditional corporate accounts.
• Establish and administer the territory budget preparation process to ensure sales and revenue opportunities are maximized.
• Take charge of establishing and managing business relationships between Air Canada and designated managed and unmanaged corporate accounts located in points of sale in Australia.
• Negotiate and implement contractual agreements with businesses, ensuring high performance is maintained, seizing growth opportunities and focusing on revenue quality.
• Constantly search for potential clients within the corporate market and evaluate direct and indirect sales channel opportunities, including future growth opportunities related to other travel agency segments as needed.
• Weekly, prepare the sales call schedule ensuring that accounts under their responsibility are serviced and maintained. Ensure that Air Canada's promotional and tactical sales material is distributed to customers through calls or sales email exchanges.
• Regularly review revenue performance (direct and indirect) of accounts and develop sales strategies to ensure expected growth is achieved.
• Leverage Air Canada's international contracts to establish relationships with local companies holding wholly owned or joint venture subsidiaries.
• Periodically conduct individual assessments of corporate account business activities within the portfolio, identifying growth and market share transfer opportunities.
• Participate in the implementation of a direct booking channel for businesses and develop a strategy to directly target commercial clients through the new tool.
• Plan training, product updates and regular presentations for travel management companies that are Air Canada preferred partners.
• Establish and maintain relationships with other partner travel agencies as business needs evolve, focusing efforts primarily on business partners.
• Ensure that commercial information, trends, developments, competitor activities and other local elements that may impact Air Canada are reported correctly and immediately to the commercial office in Sydney.
• Prepare bimonthly reports describing activities, achievements, market research and plans for the following month.
• Search for additional opportunities in the business community, from contacts of partner carriers, business travel management companies and local business associations.
• Resolve client conflicts and complaints in a constructive and professional manner.
• Keep the sales and customer database up to date to ensure accuracy.
• Ensure that Air Canada's brand and market profile are raised, promoted and positioned with the public in their territory.
• Maintain ongoing liaison and interact with the National Commercial Manager to ensure the company's strategic orientation aligns with the specific accounts and territory.
• Attend sales team meetings and industry conferences as needed.
• Prepare and create models for agency evaluation and establishment of individual business priorities and objectives.
• Perform other duties and responsibilities as needed.

NOTE: DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES MAY INCLUDE SOME OF THE DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES LISTED ABOVE OR ALL OF THE LISTED ELEMENTS, BUT OTHER RELATED TASKS MAY ALSO BE REQUIRED BY THE SUPERVISOR.

Qualifications

• At least five years of sales experience in the airline or travel industry, a requirement.
• Strong network of key contacts in the travel industry, an asset.
• Demonstrated experience in business planning and account management.
• Passion for sales, a requirement, and demonstrated experience consistently exceeding targets.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Excellent analytical, organizational and planning skills.
• Ability to work well under pressure and meet deadlines; strong motivation and ability to work autonomously with little supervision.
• Good judgment, discretion and decision-making skills.
• Advanced computer skills, including working knowledge of PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Salesforce.
• Flexibility required to work overtime, including some weekends, and to travel between states and overseas, sometimes on short notice.
• Possible use of personal vehicle for business travel with possibility of reimbursement of related expenses in accordance with company policy.

Employment Conditions:

Candidates must be eligible to work in the country concerned at the time a job offer is presented and are responsible for obtaining work permits, visas or other necessary authorizations. Proof of eligibility must be provided before the start date.

Language Requirements

All else being equal, preference will be given to bilingual candidates.

Diversity and Inclusion

Air Canada is firmly committed to diversity and inclusion and aims to create a healthy, accessible and rewarding workplace that highlights our employees' unique contribution to our business success.

As an equal opportunity employer, we encourage diverse applications so that we can have a workforce that is varied and representative of our customers and the communities where we live and offer our services.

Air Canada thanks all candidates for their interest, but only persons selected for an interview will be contacted.