Head of Product

The Learning Adventure is a leading educational tour provider for school and university students, operating educational trips across the globe. The company focuses on offering bespoke itineraries that deliver prescribed learning outcomes and unique, engaging activities to inspire the next generation of global citizens.

The Learning Adventure is part of the Transforma Travel Group, a leading youth travel company. Transforma’s family of brands create culturally enriching, off-the-beaten-track, and educational adventures for travelers and students alike. Across all our brands, our mission is the same: to expand minds through transformative travel experiences.

The Role:

As the Head of Product at The Learning Adventure, you will oversee the development, procurement, and safety of our products, ensuring our educational tours are exceptional, innovative, and safe. You will play a key role in shaping our tour portfolio, leading a team to deliver transformational travel experiences for students, while maintaining our commitment to sustainability and cultural authenticity. Working out of our Lisbon or London offices, you will report directly to the CEO and collaborate with our global team to deliver excellent trips.

Responsibilities:

• Oversee the development of new products in our existing destinations globally, direct our strategy for entry into new destinations, and ensure all of our products align with the company’s mission and values.

• Lead procurement efforts, sourcing and contracting suppliers (hotels, transport, restaurants, and activities) that meet quality, safety, and budget requirements.

• Foster strong relationships with suppliers and partners, negotiating favourable terms and agreements.

• Oversee a Safety Manager to ensure all safety protocols, supplier audits, and risk assessments are consistently maintained and updated.

• Manage and support a team of Regional Specialists across multiple regions to execute supplier management, product innovation, and safety standards.

• Analyze market trends and customer feedback to continuously enhance tour offerings and ensure competitiveness.

• Work with the team to ensure our itineraries are matched to our clients' goals and meet the company budgetary expectations.

• Drive initiatives to promote sustainable and ethical travel practices in line with company values.

• Work closely with our Sales, Operations and Marketing teams to map the direction of product for the company and setting the foundations for further growth.

Competencies:

This is a fantastic opportunity to work in a rapidly expanding educational travel team, with internationally minded colleagues who are passionate about the tours that we run!

We are looking for a new member who:

• Has at least 7 years+ experience in the travel industry (particularly in product development and procurement in educational travel)

• Is passionate about education and travel, with a deep understanding of cultural and educational tourism

• Has substantial B2B procurement experience globally and a large base of supplier contacts

• Proven track record of negotiation and contracting of high value contracts

• Willingness to join a fast-paced company during a growth period

• Demonstrates strong leadership and team management skills, with experience leading remote teams.

• Has excellent spoken and written English language skills

• Is a team player

• Has high attention to detail

• Has a willingness to learn

• Is organised and able to balance a reactive workload together with ongoing projects

• Demonstrates initiative and creativity – for finding solutions and for developing original ideas

• Is proficient with Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint

Good to have:

• Additional language skills

• Substantial global destination knowledge

• Experience in educational tours

Terms:

• Full time role

• Reporting to the CEO

• Based in Lisbon

• Hybrid working (3 days in our Lisbon office)

• Competitive salary

• Start date: ASAP