Trip Design Assistant (Remote, Europe-Based)

Help build the kind of trips people never stop talking about.

Most travel companies sell holidays. We create trips people remember for the rest of their lives.

One day our travellers are hiking through remote villages along the Silk Road in Central Asia. Next they’re crossing Europe by rail, walking the Camino in Spain, or joining a ceramics retreat in Sicily.

And behind every trip is a Trip Design team carefully shaping the experience,  researching destinations, crafting itineraries, and making sure every detail comes together seamlessly. That’s where you come in! 

About Leatherback Travel

Leatherback Travel is an Australian-owned adventure travel group focused on immersive, off-the-beaten-path experiences across cultural, hiking, rail, solo, artistic and culinary travel. 

Our growing portfolio includes Patch Adventures, Camino Women, Magnificent Explorers, Fencox Travel, Carex, Salt Caravan, Harriet Adventures and Salemi Ceramics, with additional niche travel brands continuing to emerge globally. 

We are not trying to become another generic travel company selling the same “Top 10 Europe” itinerary everyone else already offers.

We want to create entirely new travel experiences to share with the world.

For example, instead of selling other walking trails, we want to create our own  - and we’ve already done that once, in Laos.

We’ve also built one of the world’s most popular ceramic schools from scratch.

And will continue to do more.

Adventure travel is one of the fastest-growing industries globally, and Leatherback Travel is growing quickly because travellers want something deeper, personal, memorable and more meaningful than traditional tourism.

Our remote team consists of 50+ people across multiple countries and continents. We build trust! We build communities! We build the best travel brands, deliver the best marketing, and provide the best customer service and support to every traveller!

As a team, we bring decades of combined travel industry experience, and our customers consistently rave about the journeys we create. And a huge part of that is down to our dedicated Trip Design team, the systems we’ve built over time, and the care we put into making sure every trip runs smoothly from start to finish. 

‍About the Role

We’re looking for a Trip Design Assistant to join our team and support the creation and delivery of carefully crafted travel experiences. In this role, you’ll work with increasing independence, collaborating with Booking Managers, responding to administrative queries, and supporting operational delivery through Slack and internal systems.

As you grow in the role, you’ll begin to think more deeply about how Leatherback’s principles show up in trip design and guest experience. You’ll actively apply these principles in your day-to-day work, identify and communicate operational “oozes,” and contribute to continuous trip improvement.

Within this role, you will:

• Conduct destination research with increasing independence, including seasonality, culture, and logistics
• Anticipate guest needs and potential questions during trip planning
• Follow established processes and use our Trip Design Airtable system, and supporting tools, to complete workflows
• Create clear, comprehensive trip notes from scratch using Canva, and build maps in line with brand guidelines
• Complete hotel checks and gather visual assets for trip content and webpages
• Communicate clearly and professionally with suppliers via Slack and other channels, including sharing guest logistics updates via the inform-suppliers-notifications channel
• Build and update trip pages using website templates, ensuring accuracy and brand consistency
• Apply brand tone and storytelling across all written content, ensuring clarity, accuracy, and consistency in guest-facing information
• Identify and log operational risks or inefficiencies (“oozes”) for continuous improvement
• Participate in Trips on the Ground (ToG) support rotations and understand escalation processes
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Training & Onboarding

We don’t expect you to know everything from day one.
Your first month will include structured onboarding, 1-2 daily training sessions, and self-guided  SOP reviews. From early on, you’ll also begin contributing real work to the team, starting with simpler tasks and gradually taking on more responsibility as your confidence grows.
We care much more about your attitude, organisation, enthusiasm and willingness to learn than whether you already know every system.

‍About You

You’ll likely thrive in this role if you are:

• Interested in travel, destinations, and creating meaningful guest experiences
• Naturally detail-oriented, with a strong focus on accuracy and quality
• Organised and comfortable working with structured processes and workflows
• Able to manage multiple tasks and priorities without losing attention to detail
• Confident communicating clearly and professionally in written channels (Slack)
• Curious and proactive when researching destinations, logistics, and guest needs
• Tech-savvy and quick to learn new tools, systems, and platforms
• Comfortable working independently while also collaborating within a team
• Interested in operational problem-solving and improving how things work
• Someone who takes pride in creating clear, well-structured, guest-facing content

Bonus points if:

• You have travel industry experience, especially in a back office function
• You’ve worked in a remote team before
• You enjoy systems, automation, or operational improvement

When applying for this position, you will be required to write a cover letter. Please make sure you write a detailed cover letter addressing the criteria and explaining why you think you're the right fit for the role. We do read every letter, so if you’re interested, this is a great way to stand out.

Benefits

What's in it for you?

• € 1237 per month + 95 € monthly stipend per month
• Full-time and fully remote role ~ 40h per week
• Flexible working hours with availability to start at 6 AM at Central European and Eastern European Time zones. This role would include weekend coverage. You would need to be on-call Saturday and Sunday every two weeks. Additional pay is provided for weekend coverage.
• Long-term and stable opportunity to work with a fast-growing company and a supportive team
• Training budget of $600 AUD per year
• Annual travel credits are to be used on travel with the company. One free trip per year (up to $4,200 AUD in value, flights not included)
• More than four weeks of paid holidays per year (33 days)
• Uncapped potential to grow in the role and an increase in salary, depending on performance
• The opportunities are endless to build the dream role for you. Those with the aptitude and desire will have the ability to grow into management or senior IC (individual contributor) positions.
• Candidates who are enthusiastic to grow will receive support to develop themselves. In addition to our training budget, those who wish to do so can learn new tools and systems and become advanced users of platforms such as Airtable.

Important Information 

• Due to timezone requirements, we are only accepting candidates based in Europe
• This role is remote and offered on an independent contractor basis
• Applicants are responsible for managing taxes in their country of residence
• Cover letters written with AI won't be considered!

‍How to Apply

This position will be closed as soon as we find the perfect match. So, make sure to read the description carefully and take your time to submit a high-quality application that stands out. 

• Submit a cover letter and resume, both in PDF format.
  We do read every cover letter and we especially appreciate letters that are warm, friendly, and with a strong attention to detail. Please address the criteria of the role and explain any career gaps.
• Initial Interview
• Test Task
• Second Round Interview
• Final Interview
• Reference Checks
• Final Offer