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Travel Manager, Activision Blizzard Esports League

Blizzard Entertainment is seeking a Travel Manager to manage and drive travel, hospitality and support operations for our Activision-Blizzard Esports programs including the Overwatch League, Call of Duty League, World of Warcraft, Starcraft, and Hearthstone. This person is tasked with evaluating and evolving our travel and hospitality services, including programs support and partner relationships. The primary focus of this position will be owning the travel logistics for the esports team, players, talent, and vendors. This includes both short and long-term program goals, as well as discovery of financial and operational efficiency gains for the program over time. They will work alongside of other esports operations teams and Blizzard-internal teams including events, legal, finance. Other responsibilities include forming relationships with external tournament organizers, negotiating contracts and rates for services, and financial tracking and reporting for the organization.

The ideal candidate is an independent, self-motivated and service-oriented leader with a proven track record in the event travel and hospitality industry. They understand the unique environment of the esports industry, including overlapping event timelines, player and talent management, and planning events globally in rapid succession. This person must have strong personnel management, motivational skills, and must be able to remain poised and diplomatic in any situation. This person has impeccable service skills balanced with a mind for business success and strategy.

This is a full-time position at our office in Irvine, California

Responsibilities

• Manage the Activision-Blizzard Entertainment Esports Travel and Hospitality efforts
• Lead development of new travel and hospitality initiatives, while taking a primary role in aligning with Blizzard regional teams and other internal stakeholders
• Oversee existing travel and hospitality programs, while evolving each program to suit current and future needs of Blizzard Esports
• Coach, guide, and mentor the travel and hospitality team members towards achieving their career goals
• Develop and distribute management level reports including insights into the evolution of the travel and hospitality industry
• Collaborate with the internal Blizzard travel and finance teams to coordinate and vet solutions for upcoming travel requirements
• Create and/or maintain relationships with third party travel companies and negotiate outsourcing events with large travel needs such as reoccurring tournaments and BlizzCon
• Create and/or maintain relationships with third party contractors including players and talent to book travel needs for upcoming events with a friendly service-oriented focus
• Create, contribute, and improve travel process documentation
• Work with global teams and vendors to assist with organizing international travel
• Provide triage to travel arrangements when requirements change or customers miss travel plans
• Monitor, track, and report travel costs to budget stakeholders
• Recommend, champion options, and solutions for a diverse set of travel needs
• Build and maintain exceptional relationships with teams across the company to execute duties such as finance, legal, accounts payable, events, IT, and others
• Provide on-site assistance for large scale events including hotel check in and insuring guests have a positive travel experience

Requirements

• A minimum of 5 years of experience in event travel and hospitality industry
• Extensive experience with event travel, hospitality, catering and logistics planning
• Travel and Hospitality planning experience across simultaneous or overlapping event schedules
• Strategic thinker with strong leadership, management, and communication skills
• Event Travel and Hospitality budgeting, controlling budgets, and making insightful recommendations to budgetary processes for other teams
• Impeccable interpersonal and diplomacy skills, with strong ability to negotiate toward positive results for multiple stakeholders
• Able to interact effectively with community influencers, professional gamers, support staff and business partners
• Experience working with international teams and exposure to multi-cultural environments
• Organized, extremely detail-focused, and driven to consistently meet project deadlines
• Excellent communications skills in verbal and written English
• High Proficiency in the Microsoft office suite including Excel, PowerPoint, Visio and Word.
• Able to travel for work, including international travel

Pluses

• leadership in an esports support capacity
• Understanding of the esports and Social Media ecosystem, and how that relates to Player and Talent experiences
• Existing or demonstrated relationships with global travel and hospitality vendors
• Insight into current events affecting the travel and hospitality industry
• Understanding of Visa and immigration laws of the US and/or countries where esports tournaments are frequently held

Required Application Materials

• Resume
• Cover Letter which should include:
  • Why you are interested in working at Blizzard
  • What games you are currently playing

**Only submittals with Cover Letters will be considered.

Blizzard Entertainment is a global company committed to growing our employees along with the business. We offer generous benefits and perks with an eye on providing true work / life balance. We’ve worked hard to foster an intensely collaborative and creative environment, a diverse and inclusive employee culture, and training and opportunity for professional growth. Our people are everything. Our core values are real, and our mission has never changed. We are dedicated to creating the most epic entertainment experiences…ever. Join us!

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.