OTA MANAGER

Job Description  |  Recruited by Virtual Wizards

Company Overview

We are an award-winning vacation rental management company with 30 years of industry experience. Our portfolio includes 800+ cabin and vacation rental units in Big Bear Lake, California, as well as a growing vacation rental portfolio in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. We were recently recognized with a business excellence award and continue to expand across both markets.

Position Overview

The OTA Manager owns performance across all third-party online travel agency (OTA) channels — including Airbnb, VRBO, and Booking.com — for both the Big Bear Lake and Puerto Vallarta portfolios. These channels currently drive roughly 55–60% of total revenue, and reservations from all of them flow into our central property management system (Streamline). This is a newly created, dedicated role: OTA optimization has historically been handled informally, and we are now building a specialized function to manage it. The OTA Manager will work closely with the marketing and revenue management teams, and will need the confidence to bring independent recommendations and push back constructively when channel strategy is at stake.

Key Responsibilities

• Channel & listing optimization: Manage and optimize listings across all major OTA channels (Airbnb, VRBO, Booking.com, and other emerging channels) for both the Big Bear Lake and Puerto Vallarta portfolios.
• Listing content: Maintain accurate, compelling listing content — titles, descriptions, photos, and amenities — across every OTA platform to maximize visibility and conversion.
• Rate & calendar integrity: Monitor and troubleshoot rate and calendar sync accuracy between the OTA channels and the Streamline PMS to prevent overbookings or pricing errors.
• Resolution & claims management: Manage guest disputes, claims, and resolution center cases across OTA platforms in coordination with guest services.
• Review management: Monitor, respond to, and manage guest reviews across all channels to protect and improve property and brand reputation.
• Performance reporting: Track and report on channel-level and unit-level performance (bookings, conversion, ranking, review scores) to identify trends and opportunities.
• Cross-functional collaboration: Partner with the marketing and revenue management teams on channel strategy, promotions, and pricing initiatives; act as the subject-matter expert on OTA mechanics.
• Platform expertise: Stay current on OTA algorithm changes, policy updates, and best practices across all platforms, and proactively recommend adjustments to strategy.

Required Qualifications

• Experience: Proven, hands-on experience managing OTA channels (Airbnb, VRBO, Booking.com) for a vacation rental or hospitality portfolio — ideally at scale (multi-property or multi-market).
• Platform experience: Direct experience working within OTA extranets/host dashboards for listing management, rate/calendar management, and resolution center cases.
• PMS/channel manager: Comfortable working within a centralized PMS/channel manager (e.g., Streamline, Guesty, Hostaway, or similar); Streamline experience is a plus but not required.
• Language: Strong written English is required; bilingual English/Spanish is strongly preferred given the Puerto Vallarta, Mexico portfolio.
• Detail orientation: Highly detail-oriented, with the ability to catch and correct small errors before they become guest-facing problems.
• Independence: Able to hit the ground running with minimal training or ramp-up time.

Ideal Candidate Profile

Beyond technical experience, this role calls for a specific personality type. The ideal candidate is:

• Decisive and self-directed: Brings a clear point of view and a defined action plan rather than simply asking leadership what to do next.
• Confident communicator: Comfortable respectfully challenging stakeholders — including senior leaders such as a Director of Revenue Management — when data or channel strategy calls for it.
• Detail-driven: Meticulous by nature; treats accuracy across listings, rates, and calendars as non-negotiable.
• Driven: Motivated to own outcomes across two markets rather than simply executing tasks assigned to them.

Tools & Systems

• Property management system: Streamline (channel manager)
• OTA extranets/host dashboards: Airbnb, VRBO, Booking.com
• Standard office/collaboration tools as used by the marketing and revenue management teams

Markets Covered

• Big Bear Lake, California
• Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Work Arrangement

Remote position working exclusively within our systems and hours, in close coordination with the marketing and revenue management teams.

Assessment

Shortlisted candidates will complete a Culture Index personality assessment as part of the evaluation process to confirm fit with the detail-oriented, driven profile required for this role.