Education Groups Sales Specialist

Education Groups Sales Specialist – Melbourne

Melbourne | 12-Month Fixed Term or Contractor | Accommodation & Group Travel

We’re looking for someone who already knows this market.

Drifter is looking for an Education Groups Sales Specialist to help us build a significant education and study travel business across Melbourne.

This is a specialist role.

We’re not looking for someone who simply has hotel sales experience and wants to learn the education market. We’re looking for someone who already understands education groups coming into Melbourne, knows the organisations behind them, knows where they currently stay and, ideally, already knows the people making those decisions.

You might currently work, or have previously worked, in international education, study travel, educational tourism, group accommodation, inbound tourism, student travel or university programs.

You’ll bring the relationships. We’ll give you a genuinely compelling Melbourne product to sell.

The opportunity

Thousands of students arrive in Melbourne every year as part of organised programs, including:

• Faculty-led university programs from the US and Europe 
• Study tours from Asia and Southeast Asia 
• Short-term international education programs 
• University and college groups 
• Study abroad and exchange programs 
• Educational tour groups 
• International schools and tertiary groups 
• Organisations managing accommodation and ground arrangements for these programs

We want Drifter to become one of the first accommodation options these organisations consider when bringing groups to Melbourne. Your job is to help make that happen.

What you’ll do

You’ll identify, open and convert education group opportunities for our Melbourne properties.

That means:

• Bringing an existing network of relevant education and group travel contacts 
• Identifying organisations already sending groups to Melbourne 
• Understanding who controls or influences the accommodation decision 
• Reconnecting with existing relationships and introducing them to Drifter 
• Building relationships with universities, study abroad providers, educational tour operators, agents and other group organisers 
• Developing opportunities from initial conversation through to contracted business 
• Working closely with our Sales and Revenue teams on pricing, availability and conversion 
• Building a strong pipeline of repeatable, multi-year education business 
• Helping us better understand the education travel landscape in Melbourne: who travels, who books, when they travel, where they currently stay and why

The person we’re looking for

The most important thing you bring is your network and your credibility within this market.

You may have worked for an education provider, university, study abroad organisation, educational tour operator, accommodation provider, DMC, inbound operator or another business servicing international student groups.

Ideally, you can look at this opportunity and immediately think of organisations and people you could call.

You’ll like have:

• An established network within international education, study travel or educational tourism 
• Strong knowledge of groups travelling to Melbourne 
• Existing relationships with people who influence or make accommodation decisions 
• A commercial mindset and proven ability to turn relationships into business 
• Confidence developing new accounts and negotiating group opportunities 
• An understanding of the seasonal patterns and requirements of education groups 
• The ability to work independently and own a market

We care much more about your relationships, market knowledge and ability to generate business than your job title or traditional hotel experience.

About Drifter

Drifter is a new generation of design-led accommodation built for young travellers, students and groups.

We combine high-quality accommodation with great communal spaces, social experiences and the energy of a hostel — without the traditional hostel compromise.

For education groups, that creates an alternative to traditional hotels, student accommodation and budget group accommodation: somewhere students actually want to stay, while still delivering the standards, safety and operational capability organisers require.

How the role could work

We’re deliberately flexible about the structure.

For the right person, this could be:

• A 12-month fixed-term role, with the opportunity to extend or become permanent based on the success and growth of the education segment; or
• A contractor arrangement, particularly for someone with an established network who wants flexibility and is confident they can generate meaningful business.

The structure and remuneration can be shaped around the experience, network and commercial potential of the successful candidate.

This role probably isn’t for you if…

You’re looking for a traditional hotel sales role where you’ll be handed a portfolio of existing accounts.

This is about opening doors.

We want someone who understands this market, knows the players and can accelerate relationships that would otherwise take us years to build.

If you’ve spent your career around international education or study travel and already know exactly who we should be speaking to in Melbourne, we want to hear from you.

To apply

Send us your CV along with a short introduction explaining your experience within the education or study travel sector and the types of organisations and markets you’ve worked with.

We’re particularly interested in hearing about the network and experience you could bring to the role.