Corporate Planning & Management-Travel Manager-Dallas-Vice President

The Corporate Planning & Management (CPM) Division unifies Finance & Planning, Spend Management, Operational Risk and Resilience, and CPM Engineering teams to deliver business planning and analytics, expense management, third party risk management, and governance strategies across the firm. CPM have 5 operating pillars.

Finance & Planning supports the execution of the firm's strategic objectives through the management of the planning process, firmwide reporting and analytics and insights into the firm's business plans and budgets. They develop consistent framework for revenue division projections creating transparency, accountability and efficiency around projections. This pillar also includes the CF&O, EO and Engineering divisional CFOs, who are strategic finance advisors helping the firm and the non-revenue divisions achieve commercial financial opportunities. Product Finance is responsible for the overall governance and proactive management of the firm's non-compensation expenses. Spend Management encompasses the functions responsible for managing all aspects of the firm's spend with third parties - advising commercial agreements and driving operating efficiency. Departments include Strategic Sourcing, Procure to Pay, Integrated Travel and Expense, Infrastructure and Transformation and Sustainable Operations. Operational Risk & Resilience drives firmwide Operational Risk programs along with second line teams and implements required changes within CPM. The Corporate Insurance & Advisory team in this pillar identifies, procures, and manages corporate insurance needs for the firm and its investing businesses. The CPM Engineering team provides engineering solutions that enable the firm to manage third-party spend, data and automation, plan budgets, forecast financial scenarios, allocate expenses and support corporate decision making in-line with the firm's strategic objectives.

Professionals in CPM have an analytical mindset, exhibit intellectual curiosity and are from diverse academic backgrounds. This role sits within the Spend Management pillar under the Integrated Travel & Expense department ('IT&E'). Travel is a critical enabler for our business and our travel professionals are responsible for strategic partnerships with key divisions and senior management across the firm to ensure a commercially effective global program that enables the flow of business and maximizes traveler efficiency.

The Americas Travel Manager will be responsible for managing day to day travel operations with a primary focus on ensuring seamless delivery of services by key travel vendors including the Travel Management Company (TMC), airlines, hotels, ground transportation providers and technology providers (including the travel booking platform). The role will ensure consistent global operations, adherence to established policies and procedures identifying opportunities for process enhancement and efficiency, also handling escalation queries from internal and external stakeholders, resolving complex issues efficiently. The role will own relationships with key internal client groups and is required to implement corporate travel strategies to align with organizational goals including optimization of the travel program with a focus on cost control, traveler experience, sustainability initiatives and duty of care measures to protect employees globally.

The role requires collaboration with different functions across the firm on a regular basis, an ability to work independently, and ability to interact with senior professionals across the firm. It also entails in-depth analysis and reporting for senior management, requiring diligence and a commercial and risk management mindset. The candidate is required to work closely with global counterparts. Should have excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Job responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:

• Oversee Americas travel operations ensuring global consistency with other regions where applicable
• Manage escalations independently and update management, including root cause analysis and resolution
• Manage key vendor relationships with TMC, travel booking platforms and outsourced delivery teams to ensure a commercial program and consistent traveler experience
• Manage relationships across the firm to ensure policies and procedures are managed and traveler experience optimized
• Work with finance and procurement teams to deliver firmwide expense initiatives and policy changes in the region
• Work with internal risk partners (Compliance, Engineering, Legal, Risk, Tax, Controllers, Internal Audit) to manage risk profile and commitments for the function
• Participate in team's efforts to identify areas to simplify, control and automate processes
• Analyze daily / weekly / monthly reports to highlight operational and commercial trends and escalate risks
• Provide support and guidance to Divisions around thematic issues and solutioning to address the same
• Participate and contribute towards implementation of strategic platforms including documentation of process and change management
• Understanding firm's policies and procedures thoroughly to ensure the team is complaint
• Develop, manage, and maintain positive relationships with internal and external stakeholders and influencing positive team reputation
• Work effectively in a team and contribute to a positive team environment

Qualifications:

• Bachelors degree
• 5+ years of experience in the travel industry or procurement
• Proven experience managing large-scale vendor contracts and travel programs
• Ability to challenge the status quo and seek dynamic operational, strategic and commercial solutions
• Excellent client management skills and extensive experience in managing multiple global stakeholders at all levels
• Expertise in analyzing and managing travel data and budgets
• Ability to collaborate with global team to streamline processes, ensure a follow-the-sun model and drive completion of deliverables
• Impeccable attention to detail, analytical mindset and focus on risk, commercials and control
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with exceptional multi-tasking skills
• Excellent communication and interpersonal (written and verbal) skills
• Self-starter with the ability to multi-task and handle multiple projects simultaneously
• Strong work ethic and high level of motivation