Partner Operations Specialist – Local Tour Companies

Job title:

Partner Operations Specialist – Local Tour Companies

Location: Fully remote

Team: Sales & Marketplace Operations

Reports to: Head of Sales

About Us

We are Rough Guides Digital, a spin-off of Rough Guides Publishing, a trusted name in travel for over 40 years. We’re building a modern travel marketplace that connects travellers with verified local tour companies around the world, making it easier to plan truly personalised, authentic trips.

Our focus is on quality, speed, and trust. We work with local tour companies who know their destinations best and support them with the systems, standards, and processes needed to deliver great travel experiences at scale.

The Role

We’re looking for a Partner Operations Specialist to help run and scale our marketplace.

In this role, you’ll be responsible for the day-to-day performance of around 70 local tour companies. Your job is to make sure qualified trip requests are picked up quickly, handled by the right partners, and progressed with the right level of quality and follow-up.

This is a hands-on, execution-heavy role. You’ll work with clear dashboards, defined workflows, and templates, but success depends on your ability to think independently, make judgment calls, and take ownership of outcomes.

This role is 90% partner-facing and operational, with limited but important client communication. It’s not a pure relationship role and not a support role. You are the operational control point that protects conversion and keeps the marketplace running smoothly.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Own lead flow & pipeline execution

• Take ownership of qualified trip requests and ensure timely pickup

• Monitor pickup rates, response times, and deal progress

• Reassign, intervene, or cancel deals when needed

• Keep pipeline data accurate and up to date

• Manage local tour company performance

• Oversee day-to-day performance of local tour companies

• Enforce KPIs for pickup, proposals, and follow-ups

• Run structured partner check-ins based on tiering

• Push back when quality or speed standards aren’t met

• Client communication, payments & reporting

• Handle key client touchpoints (budget alignment, payment confirmations, final follow-ups)

• Check payment links, booking details, and commission setup for accuracy

• Prepare payment confirmations and maintain booking hygiene

• Contribute to internal reporting and flag recurring issues

What Success Looks Like

• Strong pickup rates by the right local tour companies

• Healthy booking conversion from picked-up leads

• Fewer deals lost due to slow responses or poor follow-up

• A clean, reliable pipeline the sales team can trust

• Local tour companies who clearly understand expectations and improve over time

What We’re Looking For

• Fluent written and spoken English

• Strong organisational skills and comfort managing many parallel tasks

• Confidence making independent decisions and taking responsibility

• Clear, direct written communication

• Comfort pushing back and enforcing standards when needed

• Ability to work fully remotely and organise your own workday

You don’t need prior experience in travel, sales operations, or HubSpot. We’ll teach you the tools and processes. What matters most is how you think and operate.

This Role Is Not a Fit If You…

• Prefer to follow instructions without questioning or improving them

• Avoid difficult conversations or decision-making

• Need close supervision or constant direction

• Are looking for a purely relationship-based or customer support role

• Struggle with remote work and self-management

Why Join Us?

This is a role where your work has immediate, visible impact. You’ll be part of a small, focused team with real ownership and responsibility, working on a global travel platform that connects travellers with local experts around the world.

If you enjoy operational problem-solving, partner management, and keeping complex systems running smoothly, this role offers a steep learning curve and meaningful responsibility from day one.

Benefits

• Fully remote role, open to candidates worldwide

• At least 50% overlap with CET (9–5) working hours

• Optional flexibility to work a weekend day and take a weekday off instead

• Outcome-focused environment, not hours-focused

• International, dynamic, and diverse culture, with team members across multiple European cities.