Job Description

Ticketing Team Lead | Remote | Luxury Travel

We are a remote-first, globally distributed team and welcome applications from exceptional candidates around the world. Hiring decisions are based on experience, capability, and alignment with our standards not geography

About Ascend

Ascend helps founders, investors, and executives book international business and first-class flights at rates that are typically 30-80% below what you would find on a regular booking site. We combine smart, proprietary booking methods with round-the-clock personal service delivered over WhatsApp.

We have grown from 12 to 66 people in just over a year, backed by Bessemer Venture Partners, and 5x'd our revenue year-over-year. We are at $22M+ ARR and growing fast. Our mission is to make first-class travel accessible to the people who are shaping the world.

Our clients are founders, investors, and senior executives who expect fast, accurate, and polished service. They do not chase confirmations. They trust us to get it right every time.

The Role

We are hiring a Ticketing Team Lead to own the accuracy, speed, and compliance of every flight booking issued during your shift.

Sabre is the booking system at the center of this role. It is a specialized, command-based platform that the global airline industry uses to manage flights, fares, and reservations. You will use Sabre for everything: looking up flights, creating and managing booking records, pricing fares, issuing tickets, processing changes, handling refunds, and managing the queue of work your team handles each shift. If you are not already confident in Sabre, this role is not the right fit. Proficiency in Sabre is not something we can train from scratch here.

When a client approves a booking, your team converts that approval into a confirmed, correctly issued airline ticket. You personally handle the most complex and high-value bookings. You also lead, coach, and hold accountable a team of Ticketing Members, and you make sure every ticket is right before it moves to the next stage.

What You'll Do

Ticketing in Sabre

• Build and manage Passenger Name Records (PNRs) in Sabre. A PNR is the master booking record that holds everything: the passenger's name, date of birth, contact details, flight segments, frequent flyer numbers, special service requests such as meal preferences or wheelchair assistance, and the form of payment
• Price itineraries using Sabre's fare pricing tools, including stored price quotes (PQs), to confirm the correct fare before ticketing
• Issue electronic tickets (e-tickets) across multiple Pseudo City Codes (PCCs), which are the different booking accounts within Sabre used for different booking types, including award redemptions, credit card program bookings, and standard cash fares
• Process ticket exchanges and reissues when a client changes their itinerary, applying the correct fare difference and change fee calculations in Sabre
• Handle ticket voids (cancellations made the same day as issuance) and refunds, following airline-specific rules for what is refundable and how residual amounts are handled
• Manage queue work in Sabre, which is how booking tasks, schedule change alerts, and airline messages arrive to the team throughout the shift
• Identify and act on schedule change notifications from airlines, assess the impact on the client's booking, and reissue or reprotect where needed

Team Leadership

• Run daily check-ins with your Ticketing Members, assign the queue based on urgency and capacity, and rebalance workload in real time when volume spikes
• Coach team members on correct Sabre procedures, PCC-specific rules, common error prevention, and how to handle different booking types
• Spot-check issued tickets each shift: verify ticket numbers, fare basis codes, passenger details, and endorsement fields are all accurate and consistent with the approved booking
• Track error rates across the team and step in with targeted retraining when mistakes occur
• Personally issue all VIP and high-complexity tickets

Coordination and Handover

• Communicate with the Client Service team in real time for hold extensions (holds are time-limited Sabre reservations that must be either issued or released before they expire) or last-minute booking instructions
• Coordinate handover to the Trip Fulfillment team immediately after ticketing so the itinerary and invoice reach the client without delay
• Submit a clear end-of-shift summary to your Concierge Manager covering tickets issued, active holds, any schedule changes handled, and quality issues

What You Bring

Must Have

• Sabre GDS proficiency is a firm requirement for this role. You need to be comfortable working in Sabre's command-line environment, not just a graphical front-end. This means you can build and modify PNRs, price itineraries, issue tickets, process exchanges and reissues, handle voids and refunds, and manage queues, all with confidence and speed
• 3+ years of hands-on Sabre ticketing experience, ideally in a travel agency, airline, or travel management company where you personally issued tickets daily
• Strong working knowledge of fare rules: you understand what makes a fare non-refundable or non-changeable, how penalties are calculated, how minimum and maximum stay conditions work, and how to read a fare note in Sabre to confirm the conditions before issuing
• Experience issuing across multiple PCCs and booking types, including at least one of: airline miles or points redemption bookings, bank or credit card loyalty program bookings, or negotiated net fares
• Experience processing voluntary exchanges (client-initiated changes) and involuntary exchanges (airline-initiated changes, such as a schedule change or cancellation), including calculating any fare difference and applying the correct endorsement
• A zero-error mindset on passenger data: you know that a misspelled name, wrong date of birth, or incorrect frequent flyer number on a ticket can render it unusable or require costly corrections
• Experience leading or mentoring others in a ticketing context, even informally
• Composure under pressure: when multiple bookings need urgent attention at once, you stay systematic and make the right calls

Nice to Have

• Background in luxury hospitality or high-end travel service
• Experience managing ticketing queues for VIP or high-net-worth clients
• Familiarity with task management tools such as Asana
• Genuine interest in airline loyalty programs and the mechanics of award travel

You do not need to check every box. If you have 80% of the skills and the drive to learn, we want to hear from you. But Sabre proficiency is not negotiable: it is the core tool of this role.

Why Ascend

Clear Growth Path

The progression here is: Ticketing Team Lead to Concierge Manager to Associate Director of Concierge. We promote from within based on performance, not tenure. You are not just running a queue. You are helping build the operational standard that the entire ticketing function will be held to as we grow.

Build, Don't Just Execute

We are still refining our ticketing systems and workflows. Your input on error prevention, PCC management, and team training will have a direct impact. You will be heard here.

Real Support

• Lead a capable ticketing team that is motivated to grow
• Work closely with your Concierge Manager on team development and performance
• Collaborate with the Process Management team to improve how things work
• Quarterly reviews with honest, specific feedback and a clear development plan

Work-Life Balance

• You will know your shift schedule in advance
• Shift handovers are clean and structured so you are not picking up a mess when you log in
• A global team with talented colleagues across continents

What Success Looks Like

First 90 days: You are leading your shift independently. Your team is issuing tickets within the required timeframe at a 95% or higher rate. Your error rate is at or below 1%. You are handling VIP and complex Sabre bookings confidently and beginning to coach team members in real time.

Within 6-12 months: You are consistently delivering on all quality metrics, you have contributed to at least one initiative that improved ticketing accuracy or team performance, and your team sentiment scores reflect strong leadership.

Our Values

• Customer Obsession: We win when our customers win
• Urgency with Impact: Clients expect answers in minutes, not hours
• Radical Candor: Honest, direct, respectful feedback builds trust
• Ownership: If something breaks, we fix it
• Relentless Excellence: Good enough is never enough

Why You'll Love This Role

This is perfect for someone who:

• Knows Sabre well and takes genuine pride in issuing clean, accurate tickets under pressure
• Wants to lead a team, not just be an individual contributor
• Is excited by the complexity of award bookings, multi-PCC environments, and premium fare structures
• Sees themselves growing into a management role over the next year or two
• Wants to work in a fast-moving, high-standard environment where the quality of your work matters every single shift

Ascend is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic.

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