Senior Analyst, Global Travel & Expense

Paul Hastings•Washington, DC

2d•$71,700 - $112,750•Onsite

About The Position

We have an opening for a Senior Analyst, Global Travel & Expense. The Senior Analyst, Global Travel & Expense is the dedicated owner of the firm’s travel, expense, and card program operations within Global Accounts Payable at Paul Hastings. Reporting to the Global AP Compliance Program Manager, this role owns the Travel & Expense (“T&E”) policy governance, corporate and purchasing card program management, T&E controls and audit readiness, exception management and root cause analysis, T&E reporting and analytics, and the T&E platform workstreams within the firm’s AP transformation. Where Processors execute expense transactions, the Senior Analyst governs the program around them — setting the standard, measuring performance, protecting the control environment, and fixing what breaks at the source. This role serves as the firm’s authority on expense policy and card programs, partnering with attorneys, partners, business leaders, HR, Payroll, Travel, and Procurement on matters that are often sensitive and rarely black-and-white. This is not just a processing position. It demands deep end-to-end T&E expertise, strong controls mindset, analytical rigor, and the judgment and presence to be a trusted partner across the firm.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or related field
Minimum 5 years of experience in travel and expense management, accounts payable, or finance operations, with at least 4 years in a T&E program, card program administration, controls, or analytics-focused role
Demonstrated ownership of corporate and/or purchasing card programs, including issuer relationships, cardholder lifecycle management, and reconciliation controls
Deep expertise in T&E policy interpretation, exception management, and expense audit
Experience supporting internal and external audits, including evidence preparation, control walkthroughs, and remediation tracking
Experience contributing to system implementations, platform migrations, or process redesign, including requirements gathering and UAT
Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel (pivot tables, XLOOKUP/INDEX-MATCH, Power Query, data analysis at volume) and experience building recurring reports or dashboards
Strong working knowledge of GAAP, SOX compliance requirements, and internal controls as they relate to T&E, card programs, and the AP lifecycle
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate policy decisions clearly and diplomatically to partners, attorneys, and senior leaders
Proven ability to manage competing priorities in environments with tight deadlines and high standards for accuracy and compliance

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with Elite 3E or comparable legal industry ERP/financial management systems
Proficiency in data visualization tools such as Power BI or Tableau
Experience with multi-country or multi-entity T&E environments
Exposure to HR systems such as Workday as they relate to cardholder and approver data
Direct experience with Emburse (Chrome River), SAP Concur, Navan, or comparable T&E platforms, including administration or configuration
Experience leading or supporting a T&E platform RFP, selection, or implementation
Experience with Wells Fargo WellsOne, AMEX corporate card programs, or corporate travel management providers such as AMEX GBT
Experience with virtual payables or virtual card programs (supplier enrollment, rebate optimization)
Professional certifications such as CAPP, APM, CTP, or GTP (or in progress) are a plus
Prior experience in a law firm or professional services environment

Responsibilities

Serve as the firm’s authority on travel and expense policy, interpreting requirements for complex, high-value, and escalated scenarios and making documented disposition recommendations to AP leadership.
Monitor the T&E exception management framework — identification, classification, escalation protocols, resolution tracking, and trend reporting — aligned to the broader AP exception framework.
Perform root cause analysis on recurring policy exceptions, late submissions, and out-of-policy spend, translating findings into concrete policy, process, or system changes.
Govern approval routing and delegation integrity within the T&E platform, partnering with HR and system administrators to ensure approving hierarchies, thresholds, and exceptions are accurate, documented, and controlled.
Identify gaps where policy does not address emerging expense scenarios (e.g., trial and litigation support expenses, non-employee and contractor reimbursements, international and multi-entity expenses) and lead the development of clear, practical guidance.
Partner with Travel, Finance leadership, and practice and business operations stakeholders on policy updates, communication, and adoption.
Own the firm’s corporate and purchasing card programs end-to-end: program policy, cardholder onboarding, limit management, deactivation, transaction monitoring, and program performance reporting.
Serve as the firm’s primary operational contact for card issuers and program providers (e.g., Wells Fargo WellsOne, AMEX etc.), managing relationships, service issues, disputes, chargebacks, and data feed integrity.
Own the card reconciliation control across all card programs — ensuring charges are documented, coded, reconciled to the ERP, and resolved on schedule, with clear accountability for delinquent cardholders and aged items.
Partner with HR on joiner, mover, and leaver data to ensure timely card issuance, limit changes, and cancellation, closing the control risk of active cards for departed personnel.
Support the virtual payables program, monitoring utilization, vendor adoption, and rebate capture, and identifying opportunities to expand program coverage and financial benefit.
Monitor spend trends and unusual activity across card programs, flagging misuse, policy violations, and potential fraud indicators to AP leadership.
Own the T&E and card program controls within the AP SOX control framework — control documentation, evidence standards, testing support, deficiency tracking, and remediation to closure.
Design and execute a risk-based T&E audit program, including periodic sampling of expense reports and card transactions for policy compliance, documentation completeness, and approval accuracy.
Lead T&E and card program responses to Internal Audit, External Audit, and the Controller’s Office, deliver walkthroughs and evidence that are complete, accurate, and on time.
Partner with Payroll and Tax to identify and route taxable or reportable expense items appropriately.
Identify control gaps, design corrective action plans, and drive remediation with defined timelines and accountability.
Design, build, and maintain T&E and card program dashboards covering KPIs such as reimbursement cycle time, policy compliance rate, exception volume and aging, late submission rates, card reconciliation timeliness, and cardholder delinquency.
Prepare monthly and quarterly T&E reporting packages for AP and Finance leadership, synthesizing data into clear narratives, trends, and recommendations.
Partner with Procurement and Travel teams to deliver T&E spend analytics — spend by category, office, and supplier — that inform travel program strategy, supplier negotiations, and policy decisions.
Build ad hoc analyses to support leadership decisions on T&E policy, card program design, and platform investment.
Lead T&E workstreams within AP transformation initiatives, including T&E platform evaluation, selection, and implementation — owning requirements, workflow and approval design, data validation, UAT, and post-go-live stabilization.
Serve as the bridge between T&E operations, IT, HR systems, and the ERP (Elite 3E), ensuring integration accuracy for expense, card, and reimbursement data.
Develop and maintain project plans, track milestones and dependencies, and communicate status and risks to AP leadership and cross-functional stakeholders.
Identify automation opportunities and translate business requirements into functional specifications for system enhancements and workflow redesign.
Serve as the senior escalation point for T&E transactions that exceed Processor-level authority, including partner travel, client entertainment, international and multi-currency expenses, and sensitive or high-value submissions.
Establish quality review standards for T&E processing, performing periodic QA sampling and providing constructive, coaching-oriented feedback that raises accuracy across the team.
Own T&E and card program standard operating procedures, training materials, and cross-training documentation to ensure operational continuity.
Provide policy guidance to the AP team and firm personnel on complex T&E and card inquiries, building understanding rather than dependency.
Partner with HR, Payroll, Travel, Procurement, IT, the Controller’s Office, Tax, and practice and business operations leaders on T&E and card program matters.
Represent T&E in cross-departmental working groups, system governance discussions, and transformation meetings with credibility and confidence.
Meet or exceed defined targets for policy compliance, reconciliation timeliness, exception reduction, audit readiness, reporting accuracy, and project milestone delivery.
Maintain continuous visibility with the Global AP Compliance Program Manager on program status, emerging risks, and open items — no surprises.
Model a standard of policy expertise, controls discipline, and professional judgment that strengthens the firm’s T&E control environment.

Benefits

Medical, Dental, Vision, Life/AD&D, Long Term Care, and Short- and Long-Term Disability
Flexible Spending Accounts and Health Savings Account
Healthcare Concierge and Advocacy
Lifestyle Spending Account
Voluntary 401(k) Plan and Profit Sharing
10 Paid Holidays per year and a generous PTO Program
Family Support including Paid Parental Leave, Fertility Benefits, Breast Milk Shipping, Back-up Child Care, Elder Care, and Tutoring
Wellbeing programs (Employee Assistance Program, Relationship Support, Mental Health, Menopause and Midlife Health and Well-Being Events)
Retirement Plan Consulting
Anniversary Bonus Program
Professional Development Programs
Transportation and Commuter Benefits
International Travel Insurance
Critical Illness, Hospital Indemnity and Accident Insurance
Auto/Home/Pet Insurance
Prepaid Legal Insurance
Employee Discounts