loveholidays was founded in 2012 and is the fastest growing online travel agent in the UK. Most booking sites require you to enter a destination, yet 75% of people want to look for holidays based on what they want to do, rather than where they want to go. Our flexible search experience removes traditional constraints, enabling users to discover great holidays based on the criteria they choose; results can be filtered by star rating, facilities, TripAdvisor rating or even average temperature, shifting the focus from destination to experience.
Right from inception we’ve had unprecedented success. We broke even within six months, were fully profitable within twelve and have seen triple-digit growth year-on-year ever since, culminating in our recent investment from Livingbridge. That rapid expansion and growth in market share has led to industry recognition, including being one of a few companies to feature in the top 10 of The Sunday Times Fast Track 100 two years running (#2 in 2016 and #9 in 2017), as well as winning Best Travel Agent Website and Brand of the Year at the illustrious Travolution Awards 2017, and nominated for Best Technical Team 2018.
Our tech function is divided into five cross-functional Agile teams, each responsible for a specific product area. Supply manage all connectivity for rates and availability across suppliers, as well as all static data across our platform; Book own all the applications related to our booking journey, the ‘Manage my Booking’ area of our site and our middle office system used to store and modify bookings; Search build the back-end functionality that maintains our offer index, plus related front-end features such as the holiday search and calendar view; Insights provide the daily reporting and data analysis needed to optimise our marketing activity; and, finally, we have Experiments – our newest team – who focus on the constant A/B testing of our entire platform.
As we continue to grow, and booking numbers increase, we recognise the importance of innovative tech led solutions to both drive efficiency in our post booking teams and to provide our customers with a seamless experience to manage their booking, with self service a key focus. We’ve made a great start in this area, but we’ve got a long roadmap of features to tackle.
We’ve just moved into a brand-new open plan office in Hammersmith, kitted out with great meeting spaces, break out areas with a pool and fusball table, there’s daily fresh fruit and sparkling water fountains. We’re a close-knit team that believes in a positive work-life balance, with bi-annual company events, regular afterwork drinks, and much more. We provide a great benefits package, including travel discounts, cycle-to-work, childcare vouchers, gym membership offers, and 25 days’ holiday.
The Role
The Book Team is based in our Hammersmith office and currently consists of a senior product manager, four backend developers, two UI developers and two quality analysts. We are actively recruiting for three further backend developers. The list of features the team support continues to grow and with plenty more to add we’re recruiting a business analyst to ensure our existing features are well documented, and importantly, ensure the development team are building the right features to support our post booking function with the increased bookings we need to facilitate.
Your immediate focus will be gaining a full understanding of the post booking function and the technology, teams and processes which support it. This will involve meeting key stakeholders in our Hammersmith office, but flexibility to travel to our Lancing office will also be vital to gain an understanding of the Post Booking team’s processes and workflows.
On a day to day basis you will be working closely with the senior product manager to gather requirements, write detailed user stories, manage stakeholder expectations. You will also be working closely with the development team as we build new features to improve the efficiency of our Post Booking Teams and improve our ‘Manage my Booking’ platform to allow our customers to self-serve amendments and issues with their booking. You will also work closely with the Training Team to ensure new features are well understood and used effectively.
You’ll become an expert in the post booking function and you’ll also help our support team resolve issues and queries as and when they arise. You’ll use this expertise to suggest new features or enhancements, which drive value for the business and help define the product roadmap.
What we need from you.
You’ll have commercial experience of requirements analysis and business process modelling. Ideally, you’ll have a basic knowledge of SQL, to help with analysis, although this is not essential.
You’ll be technically savvy and confident working with the development team and contributing to their discussions. You’ll have a good understanding of Agile methodologies and will contribute to daily stand-ups and bi-weekly retrospectives.
You’ll be comfortable dealing with stakeholders, including senior management and external suppliers where required. You’ll be clear in your communication and manage expectations. You’ll enjoy running requirement gathering workshops and training sessions.
You’ll be meticulous in your documentation and workflow diagrams and write detailed user stories and acceptance criteria to ensure the right products are delivered. You’ll support the quality analysts with test plans.
You’ll love working in a fast-paced environment where priorities can change from one day to the next and you’ll relish the challenge of becoming the go to person for all things post booking.
What you’ll get from us
You’ll get the opportunity to work in a great team whose remit includes both customer facing and back office applications. These both bring unique challenges and variation to your day-to-day work.
We’re in the process of expanding the business internationally, so you’ll be key to helping us roll out features which cater to the needs of people all over the world. It’s a great opportunity for the business and for all of us to learn and gain experience in international expansion.
Being a young and rapidly growing company, there are always opportunities for the right candidates to grow in seniority. We’re invested in supporting you with the career path that interests you the most.