Customer Service Executive

ABOUT US

Our vision is to be the worlds leading social travel platform.

We are on a mission to help travellers find their people and create unforgettable moments together. Connections matter as much as destinations and we are building a global ecosystem to enable them.

Since the launch of our social network in the hostelling category in 2022 Hostelworld has experienced transformational growth. We have successfully welcomed over 2.6 million social members to our platform proving the strong demand for connection in travel. This vibrant community is not just booking trips; they are actively engaging co-creating and becoming our most powerful brand advocates. The platform is rich with user-generated content including a rapidly growing volume of customer testimonials and authentic travel stories that provide powerful social proof.

The growth in engagement is remarkable: the number of messages sent between travellers has grown significantly faster than the number of trips booked by social members demonstrating the deep social utility of our platform. This momentum is reflected in our robust financial health underscored by a strong balance sheet powered by an asset-light cash-generative business model.

We are not just another Online Travel Agent (OTA); we have created a new category of travel altogether: Social Travel. Our singular focus on helping travellers find people to hang out with is the foundation of our strategy. It has allowed us to build a powerful and defensible market position which attracts highly valuable customers and shifts more of our business onto our mobile-native apps.

While our app and social features create a sticky user experience our true competitive moat stems from the incredibly rich proprietary data set generated by our social network. As our community grows so does the value of this data creating a compounding network effect that is nearly impossible to replicate. This social flywheel allows us to understand traveller behaviour predict needs and personalise experiences in ways that generalist OTAs cannot match. It is the engine that will power our long-term differentiated growth and solidify our position as the sole player in the Social Travel category we created.

At our Capital Markets Day in April 2025 we unveiled our ambitious strategy to build on our success and realise our vision over the next three years. This strategy is organised around five key themes:

• Strengthening the Core OTA Platform: We will continue to enhance our core booking engine ensuring a seamless and efficient experience for our customers and hostel partners further solidifying our position as the leading platform for hostel discovery and booking.

• Building Pre-Booking Social Features: We are developing innovative features like Travel Plans designed to engage users much earlier in their travel journey. These features will accelerate the creation of social profiles and drive app downloads fuelling our social flywheel before a single bed is booked.

• Leveraging AI for an Enhanced Social Experience: We will embed AI into our pre- and post-booking features to deliver unparalleled personalisation and value. This includes AI-powered recommendations for people to meet places to go and things to do making our social network an indispensable travel companion.

• Expanding our Addressable Market: We will expand our reach and product portfolio through targeted partnerships and M&A. This will allow us to cater to a broader segment of the youth travel market and integrate new complementary services into our social travel ecosystem.

• Building New Revenue Streams: Our social network is more than an engagement tool; it is a new platform for monetisation. We will develop new revenue streams directly from our social features creating value for our users and our business in ways that traditional OTAs cannot.

Our Culture

At Hostelworld our culture is a direct reflection of our customers: adventurous curious and social. We have a shared love of travel that fuels our work and connects us on a deeper level. Its a fast-paced environment that blends the agility and scrappy resourcefulness of a start-up with the experience and ambition of a global publicly listed company.

We are a team of pragmatic optimists who are data-obsessed and results-driven. We value a test and learn mindset encouraging experimentation and empowering our teams to take calculated risks. We believe in doing the right thingfor our customers our partners and each other. We foster a supportive and collaborative atmosphere where diverse perspectives are celebrated and where every team member has the opportunity to make a significant impact on our journey. We embrace the journey not just the destination and we seek leaders who will thrive in a dynamic environment and inspire their teams to do the same.

LOCATION

This role is based in Portugal. We have an office hub in Porto available for those who prefer a hybrid model where you can spend time with colleagues in-person. You will need to be able to commute to our office hub as required from time to time.

WHO YOULL WORK WITH

Working with the Customer Service team led by Customer Service Manager your role is to provide outstanding service to our customers.

Within your role you will have the opportunity to work on establishing and maintaining relationships with our customers and ensuring that they are responded to in a timely manner. Partnering with colleagues in CS and other teams across all our locations you will collaborate on exciting projects and empower young travellers to meet the world.

WHAT YOULL DO

• General queries from new and existing customers

• Helping customers with queries relating to their hostel stay

• Deal directly with our customers mainly through email/chat and at times via phone and social media channels

• Meet personal/customer service team targets

• Respond promptly (24-48hr) and courteously to customers queries

• Handle and resolve customer complaints in a courteous manner

• Identify and assess customer needs to achieve a high satisfaction rate

• Obtain and evaluate all relevant information to handle enquiries and complaints

• Use internal systems to record details of customer cases

• Manage the administration of customer cases

• Work with payment provider sites to handle Chargeback queries

• Ensure customer GDPR requests are processed in a timely manner

• Communicate and co-ordinate with other teams to achieve best results

• Promote our sites with customers ensuring they get the best possible advice and help

• This role requires shift and/or weekend cover

• Other Ad hoc duties

WHAT WERE LOOKING FOR

Experience & Qualifications:

• Excellent interpersonal verbal and written skills

• Fluency in English

• Ability to demonstrate professionalism tact diplomacy and empathy with both internal and external customers

• Excellent multi-tasking skills

• Problem analysis and problem solving skills

• Proven track record of consistently excelling in a Customer Service Executive role consistently reaching and exceeding targets

Knowledge & Skills:

• Excellent administration skills

• Experience in Word Excel Outlook and Powerpoint

• Proficiency with Zendesk and/or similar Support software solution

• Experience in a customer relation-based background

WHAT WE OFFER

• Competitive salary & benefits

• Enhanced annual leave plus 3 Wellbeing Days per year

• Paid family leave (maternity paternity surrogacy & adoption)

• Agile working (plus a Working from Abroad Policy!)

• Support for your ongoing growth & development

• Inclusive people policies (sickness menopause compassionate and fertility leave)

• A chance to give back to your local community with 5 paid volunteering days

OUR BEHAVIOURS

• Grow others - We fundamentally believe that investing in growing others benefits everyone whether its helping them develop hard or soft skills. We want learning and growing to be part of our DNA to help makes us a better team together.

• Master it - We are obsessed with our area of expertise and enjoy developing our skills. We rarely take things at face value; we investigate interrogate and always look for the why and wherever possible we use data to find the best solution.

• Collaborate - We are in it together for the tough stuff and the celebrations too. To achieve the best results we need expertise from all areas of the organisation and we wholeheartedly welcome diverse thinking.

• Adapt - We work fluidly adapting to new information and the evolving environment while staying committed to our goals. Innovation and experimentation fuel our projects and were never afraid to pivot.

• Deliver - Our focus is always on the end result; we value outcomes over activity. We collaborate to deliver work at speed without dropping any of our other behaviours.
  

We believe in talented and diverse teams that reflect the diversity of our customers and the communities in which we operate. Everyone brings different perspectives and experiences. We lay out the above requirements to guide applicants to the experiences that we believe will allow you to be successful in the role. If you dont meet them all please consider applying if you think you can still perform the role as described.