Saga • Folkestone Hybrid CT20 3SE

Product Manager - Travel

About this role

Product Manager

Salary – £40,000 - £49,000 per annum, dependent on experience

Folkestone Hybrid (at least 3 days a week)

Do you have a passion for travel, an eye for exceptional experiences, and the commercial instinct to create products customers love? At Saga Holidays, we are looking for a Product Manager to help shape the future of our award-winning travel portfolio.

In this exciting and influential role, you will travel extensively across your destination areas, uncovering inspiring hotels, unique tours and unforgettable experiences that will elevate Saga’s holiday offering. You’ll play a pivotal role in sourcing and developing best-in-class products, negotiating commercial agreements that deliver both outstanding quality and excellent value for money for our valued customers.

This is more than a product and buying role; it’s an opportunity to directly influence the future direction of Saga Holidays. Working at the heart of the business, you will help bring ambitious product plans to life, launching new tours and hotel stays that stand out in a competitive marketplace and exceed customer expectations.

We’re looking for someone commercially minded, creatively driven and passionate about delivering exceptional travel experiences. If you thrive on discovering new opportunities, building strong partnerships and creating products customers will remember for years to come, we’d love to hear from you.

When not travelling abroad, this role requires you to be working from our Folkestone office a minimum of 3 times a week. We have designated office space for colleagues in our Travel business, allowing us to collaborate and share success as a function. There will be occasional trips to London as well as the requirement for overseas travel, sometimes with minimal notice.

Package Description

At Saga we recognise that our people make us special. We believe our colleagues deserve rewards for the excellence they demonstrate every single day, that's why we have put together an amazing benefits package for all colleagues.

BENEFITS AVAILABLE FOR THIS ROLE

  • 25 days holiday + bank holidays
  • Option to purchase additional leave - 5 extra days
  • Pension scheme matched up to 10%
  • Company performance related annual bonus - Up to 5%
  • Life assurance policy on joining us, 4 x salary
  • Wellbeing programme
  • Colleague discounts including family discounts on cruises, holidays and insurance
  • Range of reductions and offers from leading retailers, travel groups and entertainment companies
  • Enhanced maternity and paternity leave
  • Grandparents leave
  • Income protection
  • Access to Saga Academy, our bespoke learning platform

Main Responsibilities

Reporting to the Director of Product, you’ll develop new and innovative tour concepts and itineraries.

Other accountabilities will include

  • Seeking out potential new suppliers, managing commercial relationships with existing ones.
  • Conducting face-to-face meetings with suppliers and potential suppliers, negotiating contracts in line with commercial targets.
  • Working closely with colleagues in the Product and Commercial teams to ensure that product is contracted at the target rates within agreed deadlines for marketing campaigns.
  • Product development of new tours and hotel stays, opening new destinations and expanding existing markets in line with the product plan.
  • Building strong supplier relationships, ensuring optimum account management.
  • Instilling a deep understanding of the Saga brand in existing and potential suppliers and investing time and effort in building supplier networks.
  • Driving and delivering contributions from tourist boards to optimise marketing and promotion opportunities and improve product performance.
  • Championing your product within the company, liaising with counterparts in Sales, Marketing and Studio to ensure optimum sales delivery.
  • Supporting the Director of Product in delivering the product strategy and five-year plan, including proposing new development ideas
  • Delivering products that meet quality expectations – helping to improve product scores where necessary and ensure customer satisfaction in line with target NPS and other metrics.
  • Monitoring sales patterns and take action to increase capacity and demand when necessary.
  • Attending trade fairs and travel conferences, representing the company at the highest level.
  • Ensuring optimum product presentation at all times whether via digital, web or print.

The Ideal Candidate

As our new Product Manager, previous experience in tour operating, product hotel, or escorted group contracting in international markets. (North America, Latin America, Caribbean and West Mediterranean.)

Fluency in additional languages, particularly Spanish would be of advantage.

You will also need to demonstrate the following skills and experience

  • Proven track record of high performance in a commercial, operational or product role.
  • Experience negotiating with a wide range of suppliers including hotel chains and transport providers.
  • Experience working with tourist boards and external partners.
  • Experience developing new travel products and expanding into new destinations.
  • Background in travel industry with strong destination knowledge.
  • Strong commercial negotiation and contracting skills across tours, hotels and third-party suppliers.
  • Ability to manage multiple projects and priorities simultaneously.
  • Data analysis skills to monitor sales patterns and drive performance improvements.
  • High attention to detail and numeracy skills.
  • Strong written communication and presentation abilities.
  • Ability to develop and deliver products in line with deadlines and campaign requirements.
  • Skilled in supplier relationship management.
  • Flexibility to travel frequently overseas, often for several weeks at a time with short notice.

Saga Values

Make it Happen, Do the Right Thing, Customer First, Excellence Every Day, Our People Make Us Special

About The Company

Over the past 75 years we have become the UK's specialist provider of products and services to people aged over 50 in the UK. We’re the most trusted brand amongst UK consumers in this demographic, recognised for high-quality products and exceptional standards of service. Our product portfolio includes cruises, holidays, insurance, personal finance products and our Saga Magazine.

Our focus on delivering exceptional products and service empowers our colleagues to create moments that are personal and special for our customers and for each other and our values underpin our approach and help guide us to deliver our purpose.

We’re committed to making sure that colleagues can be their best, be themselves and make a difference – more than anywhere else. We have done this by creating a truly inclusive culture, where all colleagues can bring their full and authentic selves to work and be treated with dignity and respect in an environment that is free from discrimination and harassment.

Thanks to our people, Saga was awarded with a Gold for Best Customer Centric Culture in 2025. This is testament to the great culture we’ve built together. This award belongs to all our colleagues who collectively make Saga a fantastic place to work.

We are champions of age inclusivity and signatories of the Age-Friendly Employer Pledge, we are proud of our multigenerational teams we have in place. We’re also a committed Disability Confident employer and ensure that our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible. Your application will have fair consideration, and you’ll receive personal communication throughout your applicant journey when you apply to join Saga.

Saga does not accept agency CVs unless specifically engaged on the role by the Talent Acquisition Team. Please do not forward CVs to our recruiters, employees or any other company location. Saga will not be responsible for any fees related to CVs received in this unsolicited manner.

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