Product Manager, Book Direct – Groups & Events

Role Purpose

Responsible for delivering quality digital products that enable customers to book group and meeting space directly with IHG hotels, strengthening IHG’s direct booking capabilities while complementing partner channels. This role focuses on the Book Direct capability within Groups & Events, orchestrating vendor‑supported solutions that allow customers to discover hotels with available group space, evaluate pricing and terms, and complete bookings online that are fulfilled by the hotel.

This role coordinates closely with business stakeholders, vendors, sales teams, UX partners, and technical delivery teams to deliver an end‑to‑end booking experience across web and supporting systems. The Product Manager operates at both the strategic level (shaping the roadmap and identifying opportunities to drive direct engagement) and the tactical level (defining requirements, prioritizing work, managing dependencies, and validating outcomes). They manage the full product lifecycle—from ideation through launch, adoption, and optimization—using agile methodologies and data‑informed decision making.

Key Accountabilities

• Lead development and implementation of the Book Direct product strategy for Groups & Events, grounded in a strong understanding of group sales workflows, customer needs, and hotel operations
• Own and maintain a product roadmap enabling online group and meeting bookings, including enhancements delivered through vendor platforms and integrations
• Identify future product opportunities and capability gaps early to ensure solutions scale with business growth
• Lead cross‑functional teams (vendors, business analysts, sales, operations, technology partners) to design, implement, and evolve prioritized roadmap initiatives
• Partner with third‑party vendors to evaluate alternative solutions, manage dependencies, and sequence delivery based on business value
• Source data, define success metrics, and support test plans to enable data‑driven prioritization and optimization
• Proactively gather stakeholder input from global sales, hotels, and loyalty partners to ensure roadmap alignment with customer and business needs
• Forecast ROI, track post‑launch performance, and drive adoption of Book Direct capabilities across hotels and sales teams
• Define goals, KPIs, and analytics to assess product value; continuously refine backlog priorities based on learnings
• Manage and groom the product backlog, ensuring clarity of value, requirements, and acceptance criteria
• Monitor market and competitive practices in group and meetings booking to ensure solutions remain competitive and relevant
• Create, prioritize, and accept user stories; participate in release planning and sprint ceremonies
• Manage product lifecycles by continually evaluating performance and customer insights to anticipate future needs
• Communicate product roadmaps, requirements, value propositions, and status updates to stakeholders and leadership
• Write clear functional and technical user stories in partnership with business analysts and technology teams
• Foster collaboration across engineering, UX, vendors, and business partners to resolve impediments and deliver value
• Support and guide junior team members in analysis, alignment, and execution activities

Key Skills & Experiences

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Business, User Experience, Customer Experience, or a related field, or equivalent experience
   

Experience

• 3–6 years of experience in product management or a similar role within a modern software or platform‑based environment
   

Skills & Technical Experience

• Proven experience managing end‑to‑end product lifecycles using agile delivery practices
• Experience working with vendor‑led platforms and third‑party integrations 
• Familiarity with sales‑enabled digital solutions, including booking flows, inventory availability, pricing evaluation, and fulfillment
• Ability to translate complex business needs into clear product requirements and prioritized roadmaps
• Comfortable working across multiple systems and stakeholder groups (web, call center, hotel systems, sales tools)
• Experience working in sprint‑based environments using tools such as Jira
• Strong business acumen with the ability to build business cases and articulate value
• Demonstrated verbal and written communication skills with the ability to tailor messaging to