Director – Business Development, Airlines
Company Description Rezolv is an aviation-focused technology company that delivers AI-powered automation to solve passenger disruption and crew layover planning challenges for airlines. Its proprietary platforms automate disrupted passenger re-accommodation end-to-end, from sourcing and booking to invoice reconciliation, helping airlines recover faster and improve operational resilience.
Rezolv has pioneered AI-driven crew layover management and disruption forecasting, enabling carriers to reduce costs, anticipate demand, and streamline operations. The company’s solutions integrate with major crew management and internal systems and are supported by 24×7 operations assistance, real-time dashboards, unified invoicing, and predictive insights. Already trusted by airlines representing 97% of the Indian market, Rezolv partners with leading global hotel and transport providers to deliver reliable, scalable efficiency.
Role Description The Director – Business Development, Airlines is a full-time remote role responsible for driving strategic growth of Rezolv’s airline portfolio across target markets. This role leads end-to-end business development activities, including identifying high-potential airline prospects, building and nurturing executive-level relationships, and managing complex sales cycles for Rezolv’s AI-powered disruption and layover solutions.
Day-to-day responsibilities include pipeline management, forecasting, proposal development, contract negotiation, and oversight of account growth opportunities.
What We're Looking For
- 10+ years of experience in business development, enterprise sales, aviation, travel, travel technology or related B2B services.
- Experience in strategic business planning and market expansion, including building and executing regional or global growth plans.
- Background in B2B SaaS, airline operations, or travel technology, with familiarity in AI-driven or automation solutions.
- Excellent communication, presentation, and stakeholder management skills, including comfort engaging with senior airline leaders.
- Willingness to travel internationally for client meetings, industry events, and internal workshops as needed.
- Develop and execute Rezolv's airline business development strategy in partnership with the leadership team.
- Identify and build relationships with airlines, airline groups, cargo carriers, regional operators and other aviation businesses.
- Develop a structured target account strategy across India and international markets.
- Map decision-makers and influencers across airline Procurement, Crew Management, Flight Operations, Commercial, Finance, Administration and related functions.
- Build relationships at both operational and senior management levels within target accounts.
- Identify opportunities arising from: New airline routes, New bases, Network expansion, Fleet expansion, New crew accommodation programmes, Changes in existing hotel contracting arrangements, IROPS and disruption requirements, Cost-reduction initiatives
- Develop a strong understanding of each prospect's existing accommodation model, supplier structure, technology stack and operational challenges.
- Lead the sales process from initial prospecting and discovery through proposal, negotiation and contract closure.
- Conduct detailed discovery with prospective airline clients to understand: Crew accommodation requirements, Layover patterns, Hotel destinations, Room-night volumes, Existing supplier arrangements, Rate structures, Booking processes, Operational pain points, IROPS requirements, Reporting and visibility requirements, Identify areas where Rezolv can deliver measurable improvements in cost, efficiency, visibility, reliability or service.
- Develop account-specific commercial propositions in collaboration with Sourcing, Operations, Product and Technology.
- Lead presentations and commercial discussions with airline stakeholders.
- Manage complex enterprise sales cycles involving multiple decision-makers and procurement processes.
- Identify and qualify relevant airline RFPs, RFIs, tenders and procurement opportunities.
- Own the commercial coordination of RFP responses.
- Work with Sourcing to develop destination-level hotel coverage and pricing strategies.
- Work with Technology and Product to define relevant technology capabilities and integrations.
- Work with Operations to establish implementation and service models.
- Develop customer-facing proposals and presentations that clearly demonstrate: Commercial value, Cost savings, Hotel coverage, Operational capability, Technology capabilities, Reporting and visibility, Service reliability
- Coordinate commercial negotiations through to contract execution.
- Translate airline requirements into commercially viable Rezolv solutions.
- Understand how CLASS, RISMA and ChocksOn can be positioned individually or together to address different airline requirements.
- Work with internal teams to tailor the Rezolv proposition for individual airlines.
- Identify gaps in the current proposition based on customer conversations.
- Feed market and customer insights back to Product and Technology teams.
- Help identify new products, services or capabilities that could strengthen Rezolv's position within airline accounts.
- Develop opportunities to expand from a single product or use case into a broader Rezolv relationship.
- Identify opportunities to expand existing airline accounts across:
- Additional destinations
- Additional crew programmes
- New airline bases
- IROPS accommodation
- Last-minute accommodation
- Additional business units
- New geographies
- Additional Rezolv products
- Maintain relationships with senior stakeholders after contract award.
- Identify emerging requirements within existing accounts.
- Work with Account Management and Operations to ensure commercial commitments are being delivered.
- Develop account plans for strategic clients.
- Identify opportunities for cross-selling and upselling across Rezolv's product portfolio.
Potential partnership categories include:
- Hotel technology and connectivity providers
- Channel managers
- Hotel distribution platforms
- Hotel aggregators
- Travel management companies
- Corporate travel platforms
- Airline technology providers
- Crew-management and rostering platforms
- Booking and reservation technology providers
- GDS and distribution ecosystems
- Payment and financial technology providers
- Hospitality technology companies
- Strategic aviation and travel partners
- Identify partnership opportunities that can expand Rezolv's customer access, hotel supply, distribution, technology capabilities, operational efficiency or product proposition .
- Build relationships with relevant decision-makers at potential partner organisations.
- Assess the strategic and commercial value of potential partnerships.
- Develop business cases covering revenue potential, cost savings, customer acquisition, distribution reach and operational benefits.
- Coordinate evaluations with Sourcing, Technology, Operations, Finance and leadership.
- Develop partnership structures and commercial models.
- Support negotiations and implementation of strategic partnerships.
- Identify opportunities where Rezolv's airline relationships can create new partnership opportunities.
- Identify opportunities where a technology or distribution partnership can create access to new airline customers.
- Maintain a structured pipeline of strategic partnership opportunities.
- Stay abreast of developments in airline technology, hotel distribution, travel procurement and hospitality technology to identify emerging opportunities.
- Maintain a strong understanding of the global airline accommodation and travel technology landscape.
- Monitor competitors operating across crew accommodation, hotel sourcing, IROPS, travel management and hospitality technology.
- Track emerging technologies and business models relevant to Rezolv.
- Monitor airline procurement trends and changing accommodation requirements.
- Identify new markets, customer segments and commercial opportunities.
- Develop intelligence on competitor propositions, pricing models, technology capabilities and strategic partnerships.
- Feed relevant market intelligence into Rezolv's commercial and product strategy.
- Represent Rezolv at relevant airline, aviation, travel, hospitality and technology events.
- Develop relationships with airline executives, procurement professionals, travel managers, hotel groups, technology companies and industry stakeholders.
- Build Rezolv's network across the global aviation and travel ecosystem.
- Identify speaking, networking and partnership opportunities that can increase Rezolv's visibility within the industry.
- Develop long-term relationships with potential clients and partners even before an immediate commercial opportunity exists.
- Own the airline business development pipeline.
- Maintain accurate opportunity stages, expected values, probability and closure timelines.
- Establish clear qualification criteria for prospects.
- Develop revenue forecasts and pipeline reports for leadership.
- Track conversion through:
- Prospect
- Qualified opportunity
- Discovery
- RFP / proposal
- Commercial negotiation
- Contract
- Implementation
- Analyse lost opportunities and identify reasons for non-conversion.
- Continuously improve the airline sales process based on pipeline performance and market feedback.
