Product Manager - East Africa

PRODUCT MANAGER – EAST AFRICA

ARUSHA OR NAIROBI

START DATE: ASAAP

Our client, a leading name in luxury travel, is looking for a commercially minded Product Manager to take ownership of the growth, performance and strategic direction of their East African product portfolio.

This is far more than a supplier management role. You'll be given real ownership of a region — driving revenue growth, improving gross margin and profitability, building strategic supplier partnerships, and shaping one of the most compelling luxury East Africa portfolios in the market.

You'll sit at the intersection of Product, Sales and Marketing, using commercial data, market insight and your own industry relationships to spot opportunities, sharpen product performance, and build a portfolio that both inspires luxury travel partners and delivers strong financial results.

A key part of the role will be building and managing high-value relationships with East Africa's leading lodges, camps, hotels, experience providers and other strategic partners. You'll negotiate industry-leading commercial terms, uncover opportunities for exclusivity and value-adds, and develop partnerships that give our client a genuine competitive edge.

You'll also become the internal go-to expert on East Africa — equipping Sales and Marketing teams with the knowledge, product insight and commercial tools they need to convert more business and grow the region.

Ultimately, you'll be accountable for the commercial health and growth of the East Africa portfolio — revenue, margin, profitability, product performance and strategic supplier relationships. If you're commercially driven, relationship-focused, and passionate about luxury African travel, this is a rare opportunity to shape a region and make it your own.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Commercial Performance & Growth

• Own the commercial performance of the East Africa product portfolio, with accountability for revenue, gross margin and profitability.
• Analyse sales and product performance by destination, supplier, product and source market to identify growth opportunities.
• Monitor performance against agreed budgets and KPIs and take action where performance is below target.

Supplier Partnerships & Commercial Negotiation

• Build and maintain strong, long-term relationships with the company's key East African suppliers.
• Act as the primary relationship owner for strategic suppliers, ensuring the company maintains strong access to preferred products and availability.
• Negotiate best-in-industry rates, overrides, payment terms and commercial conditions.

Product Strategy & Development

• Develop and implement the East Africa product strategy, aligned with the company's overall commercial objectives and luxury positioning.
• Continuously research the market to identify new and emerging lodges, camps, hotels, private reserves, experiences and destinations.
• Identify gaps in the portfolio and determine where new products or experiences are required to support growth.

Source Market & Sales Enablement

• Work with Sales Managers to develop an East Africa product strategy for each key source market, recognising different traveller profiles, preferences and commercial opportunities.
• Analyse which destinations and products perform best within each market and identify opportunities for further growth.
• Provide Sales teams with timely information on new products, supplier developments, relevant offers and market opportunities.
• Develop and deliver ongoing East Africa product training to improve destination and product knowledge across the business.

REQUIREMENTS:

You should be:

• Commercially driven and comfortable taking ownership of revenue, margin and profitability.
• A strong negotiator who can secure excellent commercial outcomes while maintaining long-term supplier relationships.
• Passionate about luxury African travel and particularly East Africa.
• Highly relationship-oriented, with the ability to build trust with industry partners.
• Analytical and comfortable working with sales, revenue and product performance data.
• Curious and commercially entrepreneurial, constantly looking for new opportunities.
• Able to translate market insight into practical product and commercial strategies.
• Highly organised and capable of managing a broad portfolio of suppliers, destinations, projects and priorities.
• Confident working cross-functionally with Sales, Marketing, Operations, Rates, Systems and Leadership.
• An excellent communicator and presenter.
• Comfortable operating both strategically and hands-on.

Together with Greenpop we have joined the TREEvolution!  

We pledge to plant two trees for every successful placement, one on behalf of YOU and one on behalf of our client!