Senior Sales Specialist (Loyalty Partners)

JobsCloseBy Editorial Insights

Air New Zealand is seeking a Senior Sales Specialist, Loyalty Partners to lead growth of the Koru loyalty financial partner portfolio from Auckland, reporting to the Chapter Lead. You will own senior partner relationships, develop data-driven growth strategies, and manage forecasting, budget and P&L while ensuring contract oversight and timely delivery of initiatives. You’ll collaborate across finance, legal, marketing, product, operations, analytics and tech to deliver cohesive loyalty solutions that boost revenue and profitability. Ideal candidates have 5+ years in sales or partnerships, a track record of revenue growth in financial services, strong stakeholder management, and clear commercial judgement. Tailor your resume to quantify impact, prepare concise commercial cases, and demonstrate your ability to simplify complexity and influence senior stakeholders. Apply by 16 August.

Job Description

Kia ora! 

Air New Zealand is one of the world’s most loved airlines, known for our outstanding customer service, innovative thinking, and uniquely Kiwi culture. Koru is New Zealand’s largest and most valuable loyalty programme, connecting members with a wide range of rewards, benefits, and premium experiences. 

We have strong ambition for the Koru programme, and this is an exciting opportunity to lead the growth and performance of our financial partner portfolio while shaping commercial strategy across some of our most important loyalty partnerships. 

The Sales chapter is recruiting for a Senior Sales Specialist, Loyalty Partners to join the team based in Auckland. 

This role is responsible for expanding loyalty driven revenue across the Financial Partners portfolio and acting as the primary strategic link between Air New Zealand and major Koru financial partners. 

Reporting to the Chapter Lead, Loyalty Partners, you will lead multiple partner portfolios and be accountable for partner strategy, commercial performance, forecasting, profit and loss management, contract oversight, and the successful delivery of growth initiatives. 

This is an opportunity for an experienced commercial and partnership leader to shape high value relationships, influence senior stakeholders, and deliver measurable growth for one of New Zealand’s leading loyalty programmes. 

The role you will play 

• Achieve and exceed loyalty driven revenue targets by identifying and executing growth opportunities across financial partner portfolios
• Own senior relationships with major Koru financial partners, building trust, influencing strategic priorities, and ensuring effective delivery of agreed outcomes
• Develop clear, data informed partner growth strategies and translate them into actionable implementation plans and commercial roadmaps
• Lead accurate revenue forecasting, budget management, and profit and loss oversight to ensure strong portfolio performance and profitability
• Use customer, commercial, and performance data to identify trends, develop insights, and recommend opportunities for sustainable growth
• Lead contract and portfolio oversight, ensuring commercial terms, obligations, deliverables, renewal dates, and governance requirements are clearly understood and met
• Partner with finance, legal, marketing, product, operations, analytics, and technology teams to deliver cohesive loyalty solutions and maintain operational excellence
• Shape integrated marketing and member engagement initiatives, from campaign development through to execution, measurement, and optimisation
• Prepare and present clear commercial recommendations, performance updates, and strategic proposals to senior internal and external stakeholders
• Track and report key performance indicators including enrolments, engagement, customer activity, partner revenue, and portfolio profitability
• Identify and lead process improvements that strengthen the partner experience, improve internal delivery, and create better outcomes for Koru members. 

Our ideal candidate 

• 5 or more years of experience across sales, account management, partnerships, loyalty, or commercial portfolio leadership
• Demonstrated success in driving commercial revenue growth and delivering against challenging targets
• Experience working within or alongside the financial services sector, with an understanding of banking, credit cards, regulation, and industry dynamics
• Strong experience developing sales forecasts, managing budgets, and overseeing profit and loss performance to achieve profitability targets
• Proven ability to develop and execute partner strategies, commercial plans, and complex growth initiatives
• Experience reviewing and managing contracts, ensuring compliance, clarity of deliverables, and mutual value for all parties
• Strong relationship management and influencing skills, with the confidence to engage senior stakeholders and navigate complex partner environments
• Highly developed commercial judgement and analytical capability, with the ability to turn data into clear recommendations and action
• Confident communication and presentation skills, with the ability to simplify complexity and build alignment across diverse stakeholder groups
• Highly organised and proactive, with strong attention to detail and the ability to lead multiple portfolios and priorities
• A collaborative leader who enjoys working across teams to deliver strong customer, partner, and commercial outcomes. 

Ready to soar? 

Apply now and join the Air New Zealand whānau. 

Applications close Sunday, 16th August

Additional Information

At Air New Zealand, we are proudly committed to diversity, equity and inclusion and believe in creating a truly inclusive workplace where everyone can be themselves and thrive. Our people are our greatest asset – because while everything else we do in our operation can be replicated by our competitors, it is our people that truly set us apart. We are firm believers in celebrating the differences and diversity of thought our people bring to their roles. We encourage candidates from diverse backgrounds, including those with a disability, additional health and mental health needs, and/or are neurodiverse to apply for our roles.

If you have encountered any accessibility barriers and require further information or reasonable accommodations to our recruitment process, please reach out to the recruiter listed on this job advert so they are able to support you to freely participate equitably in our recruitment and selection process.

Whāia te pae tawhiti kia tata. Ko te pae tata whakamaua, kia tina.

"Seek to bring distant horizons closer. Once near, seize them and make them your reality."