Global Senior Category Manager - Corporate Travel Procurement & Operations

Iron Mountain•Austin, TX

42d•Hybrid

About The Position

At Iron Mountain we know that work, when done well, makes a positive impact for our customers, our employees, and our planet. That's why we need smart, committed people to join us. Whether you're looking to start your career or make a change, talk to us and see how you can elevate the power of your work at Iron Mountain. We provide expert, sustainable solutions in records and information management, digital transformation services, data centers, asset lifecycle management, and fine art storage, handling, and logistics. We proudly partner every day with our 225,000 customers around the world to preserve their invaluable artifacts, extract more from their inventory, and protect their data privacy in innovative and socially responsible ways. Are you curious about being part of our growth story while evolving your skills in a culture that will welcome your unique contributions? If so, let's start the conversation. Build the Future of Travel at Iron Mountain At IRM, we're not just looking for someone to run our travel program - we're looking for someone to own it, transform it, and lead it into the future. As the Senior Category Manager, Corporate Travel & Operations , you'll be the go-to expert in modernizing, controlling, and optimizing how IRM's employees travel around the world. You are responsible for developing and managing a company's travel program to ensure employee travel is cost-effective, efficient, compliant with policy, and aligned with business needs. This role bridges internal business requirements with external travel service providers, with a strong focus on policy adherence, duty of care, cost control, and traveler satisfaction. This newly dedicated role will define and lead the future of IRM's corporate travel program, shaping the global supplier base, setting preferred partners across air, hotel, and ground transport, and ensuring effective travel operations. It's a high-impact, hybrid position that combines strategic sourcing, category planning, and platform oversight to drive performance and efficiency. You'll work closely with the Category Leader and Chief Procurement Officer to refine and enforce the Corporate Travel Policy, while partnering with the Procurement Center of Excellence to strengthen reporting, controls, and enterprise-wide engagement. If you thrive in matrixed global organizations, are a confident negotiator, and have a bias for action, this role will give you the autonomy and executive access to make a lasting impact.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Procurement, Business, Supply Chain, or related field (required)
10+ years of experience in procurement, travel programs or both. Industry experience is strongly preferred.
Traveler Engagement: Advises and trains employees on policy and tools; demands empathy, clear coaching, and change-management aptitude.
Executive presence: Comfortability presenting travel metrics, risks, and savings to C-suite leaders, Finance and regional head. The ability to translate complex issues into concise, persuasive communication and confidence in Q&A
Vendor Relations: Negotiates contracts and manages SLAs with TMCs, airlines, hotels, and ground-transport providers; relies on expert negotiation and relationship-management abilities
Strong track record of leading global sourcing initiatives and delivering commercial outcomes across regions
Advanced skills in supplier negotiation, contract structuring, and category planning
Experience operating in regulated environments with exposure to legal, data privacy, and labour compliance requirements

Nice To Haves

Experience negotiating with, and managing, travel partners of all types. Experience or exposure to the travel sector directly, if possible
Experience developing global supplier frameworks and governance models
MCIPS qualification or equivalent professional certification
Knowledge of procurement systems, analytics tools, and performance dashboards
Experience leading cross-functional teams in a matrixed environment

Responsibilities

Negotiate global and regional deals with hotels, airlines, car rental providers, rideshare platforms, and booking tools
Take control of our current TMC relationship (FCM), optimize fulfillment, and ensure adherence to policy
Redesign our travel policy in partnership with Procurement CoE and the CPO to reflect modern business travel needs, cost controls, and duty of care
Implement compliance controls, enforce policies , and report violations
Own the travel operations tech stack - ensure tools like Concur, Workday, or other systems are integrated, effective, and user-friendly
Drive reporting, analytics, and insights that impact IRM's bottom line (P&L savings, soft dollar wins, supplier performance)
Develop and lead a comprehensive global travel category strategy
Define and implement sourcing strategies (supplier consolidation, market benchmarking, AI-driven insights)
Manage supplier relationships and performance (hotels, airlines, rideshare, TMC, and more)
Partner across Procurement, Finance, Risk, and Legal to manage compliance, risk, and duty of care
Deliver P&L-impacting savings and improve the employee travel experience simultaneously
Assurance that the performance and support of the travel partner/platform is optimized and measured to demonstrate success. Force accountability to performance and continuous improvement of its service offering.
Expand the program, where applicable, to un/under-served regions in partnership with the Corporate Card Program
Improvement in supplier performance metrics (e.g. fulfilment rate, quality, responsiveness)
Stakeholder satisfaction and engagement with travel experience
Risk reduction, contract coverage, and compliance levels across supplier base