Senior Contract and Purchasing Manager - East Sussex

With more than 30 years’ experience, Travelbound are the industry leaders in high quality, subject-led tours for schools, universities, colleges, and clubs. With bespoke itineraries to incredible worldwide destinations, and our exclusive Chateau du Molay in Normandy, Travelbound tailor every tour to meet your specific educational and cultural requirements.

The Contracting and Purchasing Manager reports into the Head of Product and is responsible for improving and negotiating Travelbound’s buying power across all overseas travel-related suppliers across the worldwide destination portfolio. The role owns the overseas contracting strategy, the international supplier portfolio and the commercial relationships that underpin Travelbound’s product and operations. Working in close partnership with the wider teams, the role drives measurable improvements in cost, terms and quality while ensuring that all contracted suppliers meet Travelbound’s Health, Safety & ESG compliance requirements.

Key Responsibilities & Accountabilities

• Develop and lead the overseas contracting and purchasing strategy, strengthening buying power across accommodation, transport, excursions, ferries, flights and DMCs.
• Lead negotiations with key overseas suppliers, securing competitive rates, allocations, payment terms and commercial agreements.
• Manage overseas supplier contracts, templates, approvals, renewals and records, ensuring legal, commercial, Health & Safety and ESG compliance.
• Deliver annual cost-saving and margin improvement targets, tracking savings, rebates and overrides through to P&L impact.
• Optimise the overseas supplier portfolio, develop strategic partnerships, exit underperforming suppliers and source new suppliers in established and emerging destinations.
• Monitor market trends, pricing, capacity, FX movements and destination risks to support buying decisions.
• Ensure suppliers meet Health & Safety, insurance, ESG and due diligence requirements, maintaining robust audit and compliance records.
• Build and manage senior-level relationships with key overseas suppliers through regular visits, site inspections, trade events and contracting trips.
• Work in close partnership with the Product, Sales, Tour Coordinator and Commercial teams to align overseas buying activity with product strategy, sales pipeline and operational delivery.
• Maintain accurate overseas rates, allocations and contract data in Travelink, using supplier, spend and margin insights to support purchasing decisions.
• Line-manage the Purchasing Executive(s), setting clear objectives KPIs and developing whilst being accountable for the teams output.
• Provide regular updates on supplier performance, contracted positions, savings delivery and key risks to commercial leadership.

What we are looking for

• Proven contract and purchasing experience within the overseas travel industry, ideally within tour operating, group or educational travel.
• Strong commercial acumen and a track record of measurably improving buying power, margins and supplier terms with international suppliers.
• Excellent negotiation skills, able to lead high-value negotiations with overseas suppliers and senior counterparts, including across cultures and languages.
• Strong understanding of commercial contracts, including payment terms, release periods, cancellation policies, FX clauses and override structures.
• Analytical and numerate, able to interpret rates, margins, spend and supplier performance data to drive decisions.
• Effective people leader with experience coaching, developing and managing team performance.
• Excellent organisational and communication skills with strong attention to detail, particularly around contractual terms, deadlines and compliance.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office and able to work with reservation/booking systems (e.g. Travelink) and procurement reporting.
• Strong geographical knowledge and passion for travel; worldwide destination knowledge desirable.
• Foreign language skills are advantageous but not essential.
• Commercially curious, proactive and focused on improving cost, quality and supplier choice.
• Self-motivated, collaborative and able to work independently.
• Flexible to work additional hours and travel overseas when required.

Some of the benefits

• Hybrid working pattern between our office and homeworking.
• Annual Bonus scheme.
• Opportunities to travel overseas on familiarisation trips.
• 25 days of annual leave plus public holidays and a bonus day off for your birthday; we also have a tenure based annual leave benefit, up to a maximum of an additional 5 days depending on length of service.
• Global recognition and reward programme.
• Access to extensive online learning resources.
• In-house training opportunities.
• Regular social events.
• Various employee discounts and offers, including discounted trips with our brands.

Diversity and inclusion

We believe that people are happier and perform best when they are able to be their true selves and that diverse teams deliver better results. We are committed to building an inclusive culture and embracing diversity in all its dimensions. This includes inspiring change through increasing awareness of unconscious bias. Together we will cultivate a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment, where everyone can flourish.

Experience Education Student Travel

Group TravelBound is a part of the Experience Education Student Travel Group, a collective of specialist brands dedicated to delivering exceptional and memorable travel experiences for schools and groups. Our specialist brands include TravelBound, SkiBound, World Challenge, JCA, Edwin Doran and MasterClass, and they operate across 5 unique travel categories: curriculum tours; ski trips; expeditions; UK activity centres and sports tours.