Tour Guide Partnership Specialist
Türkiye - Remote Permanent Full Time
RemoteRemoteOther
Job Description
We're recruiting on behalf of our client, a globally recognized brand operating in the tourism sector. We are looking for a highly capable Local Partner Acquisition Specialist to oversee and drive their local partner acquisition operations.
The position requires a profile capable of sourcing, vetting, and onboarding top-quality tour guides while building strong relationships with individual guides, local guide associations, and university tourism departments. It is essential that the candidate possesses a strong commercial and relationship-building mindset together with excellent outreach, structured interviewing, and pipeline management skills.
What you'll do
- Proactively find tour guides through local directories, social media, guide marketplaces, university tourism programs, tourism offices, and referrals.
- Engage tourism departments, faculty, and student tourism clubs to identify emerging guides and program alumni.
- Investigate each candidate’s background, tour offerings, language skills, certifications, reviews, and social proof.
- Conduct outreach and run structured screening interviews to assess professionalism, storytelling ability, route knowledge, safety practices, and guest service.
- Score candidates against defined criteria, e.g., local knowledge, guest ratings, availability, language ability, and maintain a ranked pipeline.
- Prepare concise profiles and recommendations; present shortlisted guides to management with pros/cons and fit-for-market notes.
- Negotiate basic commercial terms, pilot partnerships, and assist with onboarding logistics including contracts, scheduling, and pricing guidance.
- Test new sourcing channels such as community groups, tourism job boards, alumni networks, and events to refine outreach plays.
- Maintain accurate records, track candidate conversion metrics, and maintain a rigorous reporting discipline for weekly pipeline health.
- Gather guide and guest feedback from pilot phases and share insights to improve selection criteria and partnership terms.
What we're looking for
- 1–3 years of experience in business development, recruiting, partnerships, or hospitality/tourism operations.
- Ability to adapt to an international corporate environment with a professional and global mindset.
- Strong outreach and interviewing skills; comfortable with field outreach and phone/video interviews.
- Familiarity with local tourism ecosystems and university structures is highly preferred.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Organized, detail-oriented, and able to manage multiple candidate pipelines effectively.
- Comfortable negotiating basic commercial terms and documenting agreements.
- Experience working with tour operators, DMCs, travel marketplaces, or university career services is preferred.
- Multilingual capabilities or direct experience evaluating multilingual guides.
- Experience onboarding independent contractors or freelance talent.
- Familiarity with local licensing and certification requirements for guides.
- Results-oriented, accountable, and proactive working approach.
- Flexibility to balance remote work with fieldwork and travel for evaluations.
Nice to have
- Industry-specific certifications
- Additional language skills
Location: Türkiye - Remote