In late February, I signed up to advise and consult with HUBS1 (Chinese name: 汇通天下), a company involved in connecting hotels in China with travel agencies, online booking sites, and other points of sale both within China and outside China. Via its distribution deals with Sabre, Galileo, Worldspan, Amadeus, and Travelsky, HUBS1 provides access to over 700,000 points of sale globally for the Chinese hotel industry.
Shaun Gao and Teddy Zhang, the HUBS1 founders, invited me to help them put together the strategy and the plan to build out the consumer Web channel for international inbound visitors to China. Our first version of the new English-language Website, called Expotia.com, will be launching later this month (link to the Chinese Expotia site) The site will be initially focused on helping travelers to Shanghai with a focus on the Shanghai World Expo, because HUBS1 is the exclusive Official hotel reservation provider of the Shanghai World Expo.
The company intends to develop our consumer Website, Expotia.com. into the best English language travel planning and booking site for inbound China travel. We’re putting our money where our mouth is, and recruiting a consumer Web team to make this happen for both the domestic Chinese market and the international English-language market. I won’t share how many people we’re hiring for competitive reasons, but suffice it to say these guys are in it to win.
I’m listing 2 jobs focused on the English language website: Product Manager, and Online Marketing Manager. If you’re interested, send a customized cover letter (or email) and resume to me at elliott at hubs1 dot net with CNReviews somewhere in the Subject line. Or forward this to your friends via this URL: http://tinyurl.com/expotia-pm
Overview – Product Manager opportunity
We are now hiring a Product Manager to own the English version of Expotia.com, our branded online travel Website. Under your leadership, Expotia.com will become the leading travel website focusing on inbound, international travelers to China. Initially focused on the Shanghai World Expo, you will develop the strategy to expand the site beyond Shanghai to the rest of China. Key success factors in your role include: product vision, business judgment, and exceptional ability to work with and motivate a cross-functional team.
Success with this project will open up many career opportunities within HUBS1 and in the entire online travel industry in China. You’ll join a team that has experience at companies like Jin Jiang Hotels, Accor, Marriott, Hilton, Starwood Hotels, IBM, and Cypress Semiconductor. With 150 people and growing quickly, HUBS1 will provide you with more direct access to the founders and executive team than you would get at a larger company.
Responsibilities
- Own the product roadmap for English Expotia.com. Lead the team to decide when and what is developed for international travelers, including expansion to other online services and languages.
- Define target customer and customer needs. Conduct online and offline market and customer research.
- Be creative and innovative!
- Define on-site search engine optimization (SEO) and Web traffic requirements.
- Coordinate with key marketing and product partners to implement co-marketing programs.
- Communicate your product vision through product briefs and requirement documents.
- Work with User Experience designers to develop wireframes and prototypes.
- Work with internal and external designers to create an effective brand identity and website.
- Measure Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and directly use analytics tools to develop insight into Website performance.
- Manage ongoing program multivariate testing to improve Website KPIs. Oversee all on-site merchandising.
- Lead cross-functional team to deliver for the international inbound customer: IT, customer service, hotel sales.
- Define and manage key project management and product management processes in support of your goals.
Qualifications
- 3-5 years of professional experience required. Minimum of 2 years working on consumer Websites required.
- Experience with English-language Websites desired but not required.
- Demonstrated track record of creativity and product passion.
- High attention to detail.
- Good at working with teams, especially diverse teams. Experience with leadership important, but even more important is working a team of peers to accomplish a common goal.
- High level of English and Chinese language fluency, but can be native speaker of either English or Chinese.
About HUBS1
If you are building your career in the fast-growing field of online marketing or e-commerce, consider focusing on online travel–one of the largest and fastest growing parts of e-commerce. According to iResearch, the online travel market is already RMB 3.7 billion RMB in 2009, growing 23% annually to RMB 9 billion by 2013.
HUBS1 is one of the most prominent new companies in online travel. We’re backed by three leading international venture capital firms: GSR Ventures, GGV Capital, and Matrix China–firms that have invested in other online startups like Alibaba, Anjuke, Baihe, Baixing, Tudou, and Qunar. HUBS1 is also backed by Jin Jiang Hotel Group and is the exclusive official hotel reservation provider of the Shanghai World Expo. Our business model and fast growth will provide exceptional career opportunities for those who join us at this stage.
Chinese Job Description:
产品经理（英文网站）
概要：
我们正在寻找一位产品经理负责在线旅游网站Expotia.com英文版。在您的带领下，Expotia.com将成为领先的旅游网站，为海外游客到中国入境旅游提供服务。网站目前的重点在上海世博会的入境旅游，您将制定策略将产品从上海扩展到全国。
胜任这个职位的关键点包括：拥有产品愿景及规划能力、拥有产品的商业价值判断能力、优秀的跨部门合作能力等。
这个职位将向您打开许多HUBS1汇通天下内部乃至整个中国在线旅游行业的职业发展机会。您所加入的团队具有在锦江、雅高、万豪、希尔顿、喜达屋等国际酒店集团以及Cypress半导体公司的多年从业经验。HUBS1汇通天下目前有约150人的团队，并且这支队伍正在快速壮大。作为一家创业公司，相比大型公司HUBS1汇通天下为您提供更多机会与创始人及公司高层管理团队直接交流的机会。
工作职责：
- 制订Expotia.com英文网站产品发展规划路线。能领导团队决定提出为海外游客提供哪些产品，何时提供这些产品，包括发展其他的在线服务和语言版本；
- 定义目标用户以及用户需求，进行线上或线下的市场和用户调查研究；
- 具有创新能力；
- 确定站内搜索引擎优化策略和网站流量引导策略；
- 与其他营销部门和产品伙伴合作，实施联合推广项目；
- 通过产品介绍和产品需求体现产品愿景
- 能提供完整的产品规划文档
- 与网站设计人员合作，提供相应的产品原型和页面模型；
- 与内外部设计人员合作，提供有效的品牌认知及网站设计；
10. 确定并贯彻KPI指标，能够使用分析工具评估网站表现；
11. 进行多变量指标研究，不断提高各项KPI指标的表现；
12. 监督所有的站内商业运作；
13. 带领跨职能部门的团队为海外游客提供优质服务，如IT部门、客服部门以及酒店销售部门；
14. 组建项目管理机制及流程以达到目标。
能力要求：
- 3-5年工作经验，至少2年消费类网站工作经验；
- 具有英文网站产品工作经验者优先（并非一定要求）；
- 有成功案例体现您优秀的创新能力和产品理念；
- 关注细节；
- 良好的团队协作能力，尤其是跨职能团队的协作能力。能带领团队为共同目标工作的能力；
- 熟练的中英文表达能力，中文或英文母语皆可能；
关于HUBS1汇通天下
中国的电子商务和网络营销正在经历着一个快速发展的阶段，如果您正在计划自己未来在这个领域中的职业生涯，不如考虑在线旅游行业。目前，国内在线旅游市场已成为国内电子商务及网络营销市场中增长最快、最有前景的市场之一。来自艾瑞咨询的研究，2009年，中国在线旅游市场规模已经达到37亿人民币，预计2013年将增长到90亿人民币，年增长率高达23%。
HUBS1汇通天下是目前国内在线旅游市场众多优秀新兴公司中的其中一家。我们目前已经接受了来自著名风险投资公司的投资，如金沙江创投、GGV Capital以及Matrix China。这些风险投资公司同时也投资了国内其他出色的互联网创业公司，如阿里巴巴、安居客、百合网、百姓网、土豆网以及去哪儿等。HUBS1汇通天下受上海锦江国际酒店集团的支持，并且是中国2010年上海世博会指定订房业务承办方和赞助商。相信公司的商业模式及快速发展将为任何一位加入HUBS1汇通天下团队的朋友提供绝佳的职业机遇。
