Groups - Manager, Group Sales

Group Sales Manager

About Us

Sunwing Vacations Group is home to North America’s largest vacation brands, including leading Canadian leisure tour operators Sunwing Vacations and WestJet Vacations, as well as the growing U.S.-based tour operator Vacation Express and the Group’s travel retail businesses SellOffVacations.com and Luxe Destination Weddings.

Our culture is driven by our EPIC Values - Entrepreneurial, Passionate, Innovative and Customer-Centric - and our teams work together to deliver our purpose: “passionate people making vacation dreams come true.”

The Opportunity

We're looking for a Group Sales Manager to join the Group Sales team. You will be responsible for delivering on group travel sales performance targets, keeping customers satisfied and developing a high-performing sales team.

This position reports to the Director, Group Sales Center and is based in Laval, QC, with the opportunity to work remotely and attend the office periodically as required.

Schedule and Working Conditions

• Position: Permanent full-time
• Schedule: 35 hours per week, with the possibility of overtime based on business needs

What We Offer 

• Hybrid work opportunities
• Grow your career with challenging and rewarding work that makes a difference
• Opportunity to give back through our social responsibility initiatives
• Work with a fun, passionate, travel-loving team!
• Great travel perks!
• Free parking
• Open-concept, collaborative workspace
• See for yourself! @sunwinglife

What You’ll Do

• Lead a fully staffed, high-performing, empowered, motivated and passionate team, building a customer-centric service culture and delivering on sales performance objectives.
• Effectively communicate sales objectives and performance expectations to the Group Sales team.
• Ensure the sales team has the tools, training and processes needed to respond to customer needs quickly and efficiently.
• Support employee recruitment, training and development.
• Provide ongoing coaching and reinforcement of processes, procedures, customer service, negotiation and selling skills to Group Sales Supervisors and their teams, while fostering a positive, fair and consistent working environment.
• Track performance by employee through the development and monitoring of KPIs. Recognize high performers and address performance concerns to continuously develop the Group Sales team.
• Oversee workloads and balance them as required to ensure team success.
• Foster open communication and collaboration within the Group Sales team.
• Work with the Group Sales Director to develop a seasonal group sales plan for English Canada, retail and direct consumer sales, including strategies for quote generation and improving close ratios for retail and direct sales.
• Identify key group accounts, foster relationships and promote Sunwing as the first choice for group travel. Ensure customers feel appreciated for their business and long-term relationship.
• Represent Sunwing in a positive and consistent way to grow customer confidence and nurture loyalty. Attend trade shows and road shows and make occasional sales calls to key agencies.
• Liaise continuously with the Sunwing Business Development team, the Weddings team and Nexus to ensure strong associations in the marketplace, support niche markets and ancillary sales, stay current with competitive activity and drive the development of new sales opportunities.
• Continuously review processes to effectively manage department costs and productivity. Identify opportunities to use technology to improve efficiency and increase sales.
• Perform all other duties assigned by Management.

What You’ll Need

• 2 years of management experience
• TICO/OPC* certification
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to develop strong working relationships with employees and management peers.
• Highly effective written and oral communication skills.
• Strong negotiation and problem-solving abilities.
• Demonstrated initiative and commercial awareness.
• Comfortable establishing, measuring and analyzing performance metrics to drive performance improvements.
• A sales professional with a passion for delivering a seamless customer experience.

*TICO / OPC Certification

TICO (Ontario) or OPC (Quebec) certification is considered an asset upon hiring.

If you do not hold this certification, it will be required as part of your employment. Fees are associated with the examination and obtaining the certification. The company will cover the cost of the first examination attempt; subsequent attempts will be at the employee’s expense.

We thank all who apply; however only those who meet the qualifications will be contacted.

We are proud that our workforce is made up of passionate people from all experiences and backgrounds. We are also committed to employment equity and to fostering an inclusive, accessible environment.

We welcome applications from everyone. We will accommodate all applicants throughout the recruitment process. If you require accommodation to apply for this position, please contact kmatar@sunwing.ca.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Diversity makes us EPIC. We strive to create a culture where everyone feels valued, included and supported.

Violence and Harassment Prevention

We have partnered with White Ribbon to support a survivor-centered and trauma-informed approach, with awareness and training programs across our divisions.

Well-Being

We promote initiatives that support employees in Being EPIC and Being Well, both personally and professionally.

Learning and Development

Our programs support skill development, personal leadership and leadership development across teams.

Accommodation

We will accommodate all applicants throughout the recruitment process.

If you require accommodation to apply, please contact kmatar@sunwing.ca.