Flight Centre Brand has restructured its global product function, moving to a category-led model that spans its five core markets of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom and South Africa.
The change replaces market-by-market product leadership with a single global structure designed to manage supplier partnerships, pricing and product strategy by category rather than through separate country-led teams.
The restructure includes a new senior global role, multiple category and operations appointments, and an external recruitment process for a key flights and insurance position.
What has structurally changed inside Flight Centre’s product team?
At the centre of the new model is the appointment of Monique Van Gelder as Global Product Leader, a newly elevated role responsible for product vision, category strategy and supplier partnerships across all five markets.
Van Gelder brings more than two decades of experience across Flight Centre Travel Group, with a background spanning marketing, digital, ecommerce and product. She has previously led the brand’s global cruise and touring product strategy, giving her direct exposure to how product decisions flow through suppliers, consultants and customers.
“Monique has the experience and the strategic capability to drive this function globally,” Global Managing Director Andrew Stark said.
“She understands how product connects to our consultants, our customers and our partners and that’s exactly what this role demands,” Stark said.
Under the new structure, product leadership is organised by category rather than country. Hotels, car and tourism sit under one head. Cruise and touring sit under another. Product operations and consultant enablement are also centralised, creating a single operational backbone supporting all regions.
Who are the new category leaders and what do they control?
Maria Marendy has been appointed Head of Product, Hotels, Car & Tourism, bringing more than 30 years of experience across those categories.
Tammy Marquet becomes Head of Product, Cruise & Tour, continuing her oversight of Flight Centre’s global cruise and touring portfolio.
Jane Lodge has been named Head of Product Operations, responsible for building the systems and processes required to support the new global structure.
A newly created role sees Kate Foster appointed Product Operations AU & Global Consultant Enablement Lead, focusing on product education frameworks and consultant tools across all markets.
Country product leaders in New Zealand (Gemma Brown) and the United Kingdom (Monica Di Vito) remain in place, with an enhanced focus on product-to-market delivery.
Why move from local product teams to global category leadership now?
According to Flight Centre, the restructure reflects how the business intends to operate across multiple markets and how it wants to engage suppliers and consultants at scale.
“Our consultants are our competitive advantage,” Stark said.
“This structure exists to make them stronger with better product, sharper pricing and deeper expertise across every category.
Under the category-led model, suppliers will work with dedicated global category specialists rather than separate teams in each market.
According to Stark, the new set-up makes it easier for suppliers to have one consistent conversation across five markets, creating more consistent commercial partnerships and allowing products to be activated across multiple markets through consultant and digital channels.
“[It] gives our customers access to the best travel products no matter where they book with us”, he said.
Recruiting now
The restructure has created a vacant Head of Product – Flights & Insurance role, which Flight Centre is now recruiting for externally.
Flights and insurance sit within one of the brand’s largest and most strategically important portfolios, covering core air product and ancillary revenue streams.
According to Stark, the role will shape how flights and ancillaries are taken to market globally under the new structure.
In related news, Flight Centre Travel Group has reported a 7 per cent rise in total transaction value (TTV) to $12.5 billion for the first half of FY26, with underlying profit before tax (UPBT) climbing 4 per cent to $124.6 million as its corporate division and AI investments begin to reshape the business.
KARRYON UNPACKS: Flight Centre has centralised product leadership by category across five markets, replacing country-led models with a single global structure that consolidates supplier engagement and product strategy.
