About Agoda
Agoda is an online travel booking platform for accommodations, flights, and more. We build and deploy cutting-edge technology that connects travelers with a global network of 4.7M hotels and holiday properties worldwide, plus flights, activities, and more. Based in Asia and part of Booking Holdings, our 7,100+ employees representing 95+ nationalities in 27 markets foster a work environment rich in diversity, creativity, and collaboration. We innovate through a culture of experimentation and ownership, enhancing the ability for our customers to experience the world.
Our Purpose - Bridging the World Through Travel
We believe travel allows people to enjoy, learn and experience more of the amazing world we live in. It brings individuals and cultures closer together, fostering empathy, understanding and happiness.
We are a skillful, driven and diverse team from across the globe, united by a passion to make an impact. Harnessing our innovative technologies and strong partnerships, we aim to make travel easy and rewarding for everyone.
The Opportunity
This role is based in Seoul, with regional exposure and travel to Bangkok.
Agoda entered the Flights business in 2019, and today we are scaling aggressively to establish ourselves as one of the leading Flights OTA in APAC. South Korea is one of our most strategic growth markets, and we are expanding our commercial leadership team to capture this opportunity.
As the Associate Director for Flights in South Korea, you will play a pivotal role in shaping Agoda’s market presence, driving partner strategy, and building the foundations for long-term success. This is a high-impact, highly visible role at the intersection of commercial negotiations, strategic partnerships, and cross-functional leadership.
You’ll operate with end-to-end ownership of the Korean market: identifying and closing new partnerships, optimizing performance with existing partners, and ensuring Agoda delivers unmatched value to travelers and suppliers alike. While this is an individual contributor role, you will function as Agoda’s commercial face in-market, working directly with C-level executives of our partners, supported by global teams across Product, Marketing, Finance, Legal, and more.
This is a rare opportunity to join a start-up within a global leader, with the autonomy to move fast, take bold bets, and directly shape Agoda’s Flights success story.
What You’ll Do
- Set the strategy: define and execute market strategies for South Korea, balancing growth, profitability, and long-term competitive positioning.
- Lead commercial negotiations: Own pricing, availability, and commercial terms with airline partners to maximize Agoda’s competitiveness.
- Be the market voice: Act as the go-to expert on Korean aviation and online travel, sharing insights with internal teams and shaping Agoda’s product and growth strategy.
- Deliver partner success: Build deep, trusted executive-level relationships with suppliers, driving joint initiatives that enhance distribution, revenue, and customer experience.
- Drive execution excellence: Ensure partners’ day-to-day needs are met by collaborating with Agoda’s regional supply teams, operations, and product specialists.
- Analyze and optimize: Use data and insights to drive decision-making, identify opportunities, test solutions, and iterate quickly.
- Innovate at scale: Conceptualize and launch new commercial models, distribution initiatives, and customer-facing features that unlock growth.
What You’ll Bring
- 6+ years of experience in the Flights / OTA / airline industry with strong exposure to commercial negotiations, distribution, and market strategy (experience in South Korea highly preferred).
- Proven track record of delivering growth through partnerships, negotiations, and strategy execution.
- Commercial acumen with the ability to balance short-term results and long-term market building.
- Strong executive presence and communication skills in both English and Korean; able to manage complex conversations at senior levels.
- Entrepreneurial mindset with hands-on execution capabilities and comfort operating in fast-moving, ambiguous environments.
- Analytical rigor; demonstrated ability to use data to shape decisions and influence stakeholders.
- Experience developing and executing end-to-end business plans that cut across commercial, operational, legal, and marketing dimensions.
Equal Opportunity Employer
At Agoda, we pride ourselves on being a company represented by people of all different backgrounds and orientations. We prioritize attracting diverse talent and cultivating an inclusive environment that encourages collaboration and innovation. Employment at Agoda is based solely on a person’s merit and qualifications. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunity regardless of sex, age, race, color, national origin, religion, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, citizenship, veteran or military status, and other legally protected characteristics.
We will keep your application on file so that we can consider you for future vacancies and you can always ask to have your details removed from the file. For more details please read our privacy policy.
Disclaimer
We do not accept any terms or conditions, nor do we recognize any agency’s representation of a candidate, from unsolicited third-party or agency submissions. If we receive unsolicited or speculative CVs, we reserve the right to contact and hire the candidate directly without any obligation to pay a recruitment fee.