Senior Manager, Travel & Expense Operations
About The Position
The Senior Manager, Travel & Expense Operations is responsible for leading the company's global Travel & Expense (T&E) program, including travel operations, expense management, corporate card administration, shared services execution, regional program governance, supplier management, and policy compliance. This role serves as the strategic business owner for the end-to-end T&E ecosystem, driving operational excellence, employee experience, financial controls, and continuous improvement across a global organization. The position partners closely with Finance, Procurement, Treasury, HR, Internal Audit, Legal, IT, and business leaders to optimize travel and expense processes, strengthen compliance, improve spend visibility, and maximize value from travel and corporate card suppliers. The Senior Manager will lead shared services teams and regional stakeholders to deliver a scalable, efficient, and customer-focused program while supporting broader procurement and sourcing initiatives. This role aligns closely with corporate travel governance, supplier management, corporate card administration, expense compliance, and travel-related sourcing practices reflected in Conduent's travel and procurement programs.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, Supply Chain, Procurement, or related field.
- 5-8+ years of progressive experience in Travel & Expense, travel operations, procurement, shared services, finance operations, or related fields.
- Experience managing corporate travel and expense programs within a large, complex organization.
- Experience leading teams and managing cross-functional stakeholders.
- Strong knowledge of travel management, expense administration, corporate card programs, and financial controls.
- Demonstrated experience with travel and expense technologies such as Concur
- Strong analytical, operational, and project management skills.
Nice To Haves
- Experience within Procurement, Travel & Expense, Strategic Sourcing for T&E and ongoing compliance audit and review of spend
- Experience managing global travel management companies (TMCs), procurement contracts, and supplier negotiations.
- Knowledge of travel industry trends, supplier management, and corporate card programs.
- Experience supporting global or regional shared services organizations.
- Professional certifications such as CTP, GBTA, , PMP, or equivalent.
Responsibilities
- Own the strategic direction and operational performance of the Travel & Expense program.
- Lead the end-to-end travel, expense, and corporate card ecosystem, ensuring alignment with business objectives.
- Establish and maintain program governance, policies, controls, and service delivery standards.
- Drive continuous improvement initiatives that enhance the employee experience while maintaining strong financial controls.
- Partner with regional leaders to ensure consistent execution while addressing local business and regulatory requirements.
- Lead global and regional shared services teams supporting travel, expense, and card administration.
- Establish service level agreements (SLAs), performance metrics, and operational reporting.
- Oversee escalations related to travel bookings, expense reimbursement, cardholder issues, and policy exceptions.
- Identify opportunities to automate manual processes and improve operational efficiency.
- Develop scalable processes to support organizational growth and transformation initiatives.
- Act as the primary relationship manager for travel agencies, travel management companies (TMCs), card providers, expense management platforms, and travel suppliers.
- Lead supplier performance reviews and contract governance activities.
- Identify opportunities to reduce costs and improve service levels through supplier optimization.
- Manage vendor escalations and ensure contractual obligations are achieved.
- Drive strategic partnerships that support traveler experience, risk management, and operational efficiency.
- Support sourcing initiatives related to travel, meetings, corporate card programs, and related services.
- Lead or partner on RFPs, supplier evaluations, negotiations, and contract renewals.
- Collaborate with Procurement to identify cost savings opportunities and preferred supplier strategies.
- Evaluate supplier performance and market trends to ensure competitive pricing and service quality.
- Support broader source-to-pay initiatives and process improvements where appropriate.
- Maintain strong internal controls across T&E operations.
- Monitor compliance with company policies, regulatory requirements, and audit standards.
- Partner with Internal Audit, Compliance, and Finance on audit readiness and issue remediation.
- Analyze spending trends, policy violations, and operational risks.
- Develop reporting and dashboards to support executive decision-making.
- Serve as the business owner for travel and expense platforms (e.g., Concur).
- Partner with IT on system enhancements, integrations, testing, and roadmap initiatives.
- Utilize analytics to identify savings opportunities, compliance risks, and process improvements.
- Develop KPI reporting focused on travel spend, card utilization, expense cycle times, supplier performance, and employee experience.
- Lead, coach, and develop direct reports.
- Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, customer service, speed, and continuous improvement.
- Build organizational capability through succession planning, training, and development initiatives.
- Influence stakeholders across multiple functions and levels of the organization.
Benefits
- Health and Welfare Benefits: Tailored to fit your and your family's needs, effective from day one.
- Retirement Savings: Supportive plans to help you secure your financial future.
- Employee Discounts: Access a broad array of discounts on merchandise, services, travel, and more.
- Career Growth Opportunities: A variety of opportunities to advance your career within a global company.
- Paid Training: Earn while you learn with access to award-winning learning platforms.
- Paid Time Off: Attractive packages designed to help you enjoy your life outside of work.
- Great Work Environment: Join an award-winning culture recognized for diversity and inclusion efforts.
- health insurance coverage
- voluntary dental and vision programs
- life and disability insurance
- a retirement savings plan
- paid holidays
- paid time off (PTO) or vacation and/or sick time
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
