Senior Travel & Expense Specialist

Nscale•Houston, TX

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Nscale is seeking a Senior Travel & Expense Specialist in Houston, US, to manage the end-to-end travel and expense function and support Accounts Payable operations. This role involves serving as a subject matter expert, partnering with senior stakeholders across Finance, HR, Operations, and business leadership to provide guidance, improve processes, and ensure alignment with company policies, internal controls, and business priorities. The position is crucial for establishing accurate, compliant, and scalable travel, expense, and AP operations within a fast-paced, high-growth environment, aiming to strengthen controls, enhance the employee experience, and support finance transformation initiatives.

Requirements

5+ years of experience in Travel & Expense, Accounts Payable, or a related finance operations role.
Strong understanding of expense management, reimbursement workflows, AP operations, and vendor payment cycles.
Hands-on experience with ERP and expense management systems; NetSuite experience is strongly preferred.
Strong experience with reconciliations, variance analysis, and maintaining accurate financial records in a controlled environment.
Advanced Microsoft Excel proficiency and strong analytical skills.
Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, including confidence working with senior leadership and cross-functional teams.
Proven ability to influence stakeholders, manage priorities across departments, and explain complex processes clearly.
Excellent attention to detail, organization, and problem-solving capabilities.
A proactive, solutions-oriented approach focused on process improvement, operational excellence, and compliance.

Nice To Haves

Experience implementing, optimizing, or scaling travel and expense management systems.
Familiarity with corporate credit card programs and policy administration.
Exposure to multi-entity, multi-currency, or international expense processing environments.
Experience in a high-growth, VC-backed, or PE-backed company.
Experience supporting finance transformation, automation initiatives, or junior team development.
A bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business, or a related field is preferred; equivalent relevant experience will be considered.

Responsibilities

Own travel and expense operations, managing the full lifecycle including review, validation, approval workflows, and processing of employee expense reports.
Process employee reimbursements accurately and within established service-level timelines.
Ensure compliance with company travel and expense policies, internal controls, and applicable tax and regulatory requirements.
Provide guidance and training to employees and managers on travel policies, expense submissions, reimbursement procedures, and best practices.
Lead systems and process improvement initiatives, serving as the primary point of contact and subject matter expert for travel and expense systems.
Support system administration, configuration, user management, troubleshooting, testing, and optimization.
Identify, recommend, and implement process improvements and automation opportunities to enhance efficiency, scalability, and control effectiveness.
Contribute to finance transformation initiatives in an all-hands-on-deck environment.
Perform and oversee reconciliations of employee expense accounts, corporate credit cards, vendor statements, and related balance sheet accounts.
Resolve discrepancies promptly to maintain accurate and complete financial records.
Support month-end close activities related to employee expenses, reconciliations, and AP accruals.
Prepare documentation, reconciliations, and detailed process explanations for internal and external audits.
Partner with senior stakeholders, department leaders, and Finance leadership to align travel and expense processes with business priorities and internal controls.
Build strong cross-functional relationships and communicate effectively at all levels of the organization.
Resolve issues, provide policy guidance, and support operational decision-making.
Influence stakeholders and communicate complex processes clearly and confidently.
Support invoice processing, coding, vendor onboarding, reconciliations, and payment execution.
Collaborate effectively within a global finance team while independently managing priorities and deadlines.
Mentor and support junior team members where applicable.
Help drive best practices across the function.