Business Development and Partnerships Lead, Distribution Partnerships

Airbnb was born in 2007 when two hosts welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home, and has since grown to over 5 million hosts who have welcomed over 2 billion guest arrivals in almost every country across the globe. Every day, hosts offer unique stays and experiences that make it possible for guests to connect with communities in a more authentic way.

The Community You Will Join

The newly formed Partnerships and Business Development Team plays a crucial role in accelerating our offerings and expanding into new markets by building strategic partnerships that enhance brand awareness and drive product adoption.

This team oversees partnerships end-to-end, from initial engagements and agreements to product launches and subsequent scaling, while actively managing relationships to ensure long-term success. They focus on growing, measuring, and continuously improving each partnership to maximize impact. 

The Difference You Will Make

We are actively recruiting for an experienced Senior Partnerships Lead to join Airbnb’s Distribution Partnerships team, reporting to the Director, Distribution Partnerships. In this role, you’ll play a critical part in identifying, securing, and scaling new distribution partners, and will own a portfolio of existing and new partners to reach new Guests and Hosts around the world.  This is a highly cross-functional role, ideal for someone who thrives in fast-paced environments, with specific focus on new partner development, global expansion and iterative scaling. 

A Typical Day

• Manage existing and launch new distribution partnerships focused on growing Airbnb’s products and adoption. 
• Cultivate new business by aligning with Airbnb’s growth strategies to explore partnership opportunities globally. Identify, negotiate, and manage partnerships with partners related to the distribution of Airbnb products / services. 
• Develop measurement methodologies to evaluate return on investment for Airbnb; track and report program financials to stakeholders and forecast for distribution channels. 
• Conduct detailed needs assessments for prospective partners focused on their business and strategic priorities. 
• Develop and execute growth strategies, track and monitor performance, identify gaps to improve overall performance and mitigate risks to avoid churn. 
• Continuously optimize and improve existing partnerships to maximize overall partnerships while maintaining a feedback loop between partners and Marketing/Product teams to inform and support future product initiatives and roadmap. 
• Cross-functional collaboration is essential and your ability to anticipate partners needs, build consensus, and engage internal stakeholders for support is vital on processes, learnings and product requests. 
• Review and influence the product roadmap and support various initiatives focused on the partner segment. 
• Competitive and market analysis: monitor competitor activities and report findings on relevant market changes. 

Your Expertise 

• 12+ years of experience in strategic partnerships, business development, or strategic and channel sales, with 5+ years focused on distribution partnerships.
• Experience within the travel industry, marketplaces, and consumer tech space is a plus.
• Experience partnering with financial services companies, credit card networks and issuers, banks, and fintech companies is a plus. 
• Growth obsessed. 
• Strong product and technical knowledge. Demonstrated ability to work closely with technical teams. 
• Experience working with complex partnership models and negotiating both referral-type and more creative commercial  agreements. 
• Executive presence, influencing, and sophisticated stakeholder management competencies. 
• Excellent organizational, communication, presentation, negotiation and interpersonal skills. 
• Ability to manage complex projects while paying attention to both details and macro-level outcomes. 
• Proven track record as a self-starter who can execute in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment; ability to flourish with minimal guidance. 
• Strong analytical mindset to use data to identify underlying trends and make informed decisions. 
• Ability to thrive in a changing environment and build a business from zero to one. 

Your Location:

This position is US - Remote Eligible. The role may include occasional work at an Airbnb office or attendance at offsites, as agreed to with your manager. While the position is Remote Eligible, you must live in a state where Airbnb, Inc. has a registered entity. Click here for the up-to-date list of excluded states. This list is conti