2026 - RTA - Senior Area Manager / Associate Director, Business Development - South Korea & APAC (Seoul Based)

Get To Know Our Team:

Strategic Partnerships is a team of creative entrepreneurs that develop solutions for Agoda and other Booking Holdings brands’ partners and promote our top and bottom-line growth. We design tailored business and product solutions with our partners and help them generate measurable value. Members of our team are empowered and supported to grow their market(s) or accounts. We develop win-win relationships and leverage both Agoda and Booking Holdings’ unique travel product portfolio and tech solutions to bring our partners the advantages they seek. Utilizing our strong brand and resources, we build new channels to increase the visibility of Agoda and the other group companies, introducing more travelers to our great products and services and delivering significant revenues to the overall business.    

The Opportunity:

We are seeking a dynamic and results‑driven Senior Area Manager/Associate Director with our Strategic Partnerships team to lead business development and drive revenue growth through high‑impact partnerships across South Korea and APAC market. This role is key to expanding the market presence of Agoda, Booking.com, and other Booking Holdings brands by identifying, securing, and managing strategic collaborations across sectors such as banks, airlines, loyalty programs, affiliates, and e‑commerce platforms. 

You will lead the end‑to‑end partnership process, from opportunity identification and stakeholder engagement to commercial negotiation and execution, while working cross‑functionally with product, tech, and operations teams to deliver scalable solutions. Success will be defined by your ability to unlock new revenue streams, enter new verticals, and drive profitability across key Asian markets. 

What You’ll Do:

• Drive New Partner Acquisition: Identify and close high‑value partnerships to expand travel booking distribution and brand exposure across Asia (banks, wallets/fintech, airlines/affiliates/MSE, white label/API distribution).  

• Business Development: Proactively prospect, qualify, and engage new partners via outbound, networking, and market insights; build a repeatable pipeline with clear stage gates.  

• Commercial Strategy: Develop/refine partnership models and business cases (pricing, incentives, attribution, ROI, scalability), aligned to BHI multi‑brand objectives.  

• Lead Deal Negotiations: Own the full partnership lifecycle - from first contact to contract closure - ensuring a smooth handover to Business Fulfilment/ops for implementation.  

• Market & Industry Insights: Conduct deep market and competitive research; identify entry points into new verticals and inform product/roadmap priorities.  

• Cross‑Functional Collaboration: Influence and align with Product, Tech, Legal, Finance, and Operations to land scalable solutions and on‑time launches.  

Required Qualifications: 

• 10+ years in business development, partnerships, or account management in travel, tech, fintech, or e‑commerce; proven record acquiring partners, negotiating complex deals, and delivering revenue growth across APAC and South Korea market.  

• Requires a strong network and established relationships with key stakeholders in relevant industries. The ideal candidate must possess proven acumen and a deep understanding of B2B, White Label, and API models, with the ability to build and defend data-driven business cases while rigorously managing a sales pipeline. 

• Executive presence: comfortable engaging senior stakeholders (internal and external) and driving alignment across cross‑functional teams.  

• Product/technical fluency: able to articulate market and partner needs to product/engineering clearly and act as a coordinating bridge to shape feasible, scalable solutions.  

• Language: English is mandatory for daily business; Korean fluency is a must for this role. 

• Regional agility: proven business experience across Asia. 

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Self‑starter with a “get‑it‑done” attitude 

• Confident operating independently in fast‑paced, high‑growth environments.  

• Able to manage multiple priorities and stakeholders under pressure while maintaining execution quality.  

• Collaborative yet decisive, influences teams, earns buy‑in, and moves initiatives to closure.  

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