Sr. Director, Digital Unified Communications

Direct Travel•Remote,

3d•Remote

About The Position

The Sr. Director, Digital Unified Communications is a senior strategic leader within Direct Travel’s IT Enterprise Services organization, responsible for the vision, strategy, and execution of the company’s cloud-based unified communications and digital engagement platform across its global footprint. The platform supports around-the-clock traveler and client servicing for a travel management company. The role leads consolidation and modernization of a multi-vendor omnichannel ecosystem—including voice, chat, messaging, email, and digital self-service—and the integration of Direct Travel and ATPI communications platforms, teams, and operating practices, including Avenir. It also deepens integration with Spotnana as a strategic servicing partner. The position oversees the Director of Digital Unified Communications and the Digital Architecture and Development team. The Sr. Director defines enterprise-wide communications strategy and leads adoption of agentic AI, including AI agents that resolve customer requests, support human agents, and coordinate work across channels and enterprise systems. The role ensures platforms are secure, scalable, compliant, and aligned with business goals, while maintaining budget, vendor, and compliance discipline. It partners with executive leadership, global Agent Operations teams, IT Security, Infrastructure, and Development, and represents the function to C-suite stakeholders.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree and at least 10 years of progressive IT, cloud platform, or digital communications leadership experience, including at least 5 years in a senior management or director-level role.
Demonstrated experience managing both people leaders and technical teams.
Track record leading large-scale, multi-region consolidation and modernization of multi-vendor contact center and unified communications environments, including vendor rationalization and migration of legacy or on-premise systems to cloud CCaaS/UCaaS platforms.
Experience deploying AI in production customer or employee engagement environments, such as conversational AI, virtual agents, or agent assist; hands-on leadership of agentic AI initiatives, including use-case definition, governance, and outcome measurement.
Deep expertise in cloud and platform architectures, including SaaS, CCaaS/UCaaS, APIs and integration patterns, and cloud infrastructure such as Azure; strong understanding of cybersecurity and networking.
Extensive experience delivering omnichannel engagement across voice, chat, messaging, email, and digital self-service on enterprise cloud contact center and communications platforms.
Experience operating communications services in complex international markets, including India, China, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific, with working knowledge of local telecom regulation, data residency and privacy requirements, and high-volume 24x7 follow-the-sun operations.
Experience managing vendor relationships, contract negotiations, and technology budgets, including CapEx/OpEx.
Executive presence and ability to influence C-suite stakeholders, lead organizational change, and communicate technical concepts to diverse audiences.
People leadership experience building and developing teams across operational and technical disciplines.

Nice To Haves

Experience deploying agentic AI in production at scale, including multi-agent orchestration across channels and enterprise systems.
Experience leading UCaaS/CCaaS platforms such as RingCentral, NiCE, or Zoom and programmable CPaaS platforms such as Twilio Flex.
Hands-on familiarity with agentic AI platforms and frameworks such as Cognigy AI Agents, Salesforce Agentforce, Microsoft Copilot Studio, or Google Cloud CCAI, and LLM-based orchestration.
Experience integrating communications platforms with Salesforce Service Cloud or similar CRM platforms.
Certification in RingCentral, Engage, Cognigy, or related communications/contact center platforms.
Experience with Microsoft 365 products, including Teams, SharePoint Online, and Windows 11.
Familiarity with ITIL best practices and enterprise service management.
Experience in travel management, travel, or hospitality, including 24x7 servicing during demand surges and integration with travel platforms such as Spotnana, GDS platforms (e.g., Sabre or Amadeus), or online booking tools.
Relevant leadership or technical certifications, such as PMP, ITIL Foundation, or Azure or AWS cloud architecture certifications.

Responsibilities

Align Digital Unified Communications and Digital Architecture investments with business goals.
Lead consolidation and modernization of the multi-vendor communications environment, establishing a vendor-neutral platform strategy and consistent global omnichannel experience across voice, chat, messaging, email, and self-service; lead the change management needed to drive adoption.
Integrate Direct Travel and ATPI communications and digital engagement environments, including Avenir; rationalize platforms, harmonize processes and service models, bring teams together under one global operating model, and deepen integration with Spotnana.
Deliver compliant, high-quality service in complex international markets by addressing local telecom regulations, carrier and number availability, data residency and localization requirements, network constraints, and language and channel preferences.
Define and execute the agentic AI strategy for customer and employee engagement, deploying agents for autonomous resolution, real-time human-agent assistance, and workflow orchestration, with human-in-the-loop controls, governance, and measurable outcomes.
Redesign end-to-end servicing and internal workflows using AI and agentic applications, partnering with business leaders to drive adoption and measurable productivity gains.
Establish a platform operating model with shared architecture standards, reusable APIs and integrations, and common data and analytics; integrate with Salesforce, Spotnana, Avenir, and core travel booking and servicing systems to provide human and AI agents with traveler and trip context.
Lead and oversee the Digital Unified Communications organization, including the Director of Digital Unified Communications and the Digital Architecture/Development team.
Evaluate emerging technologies and guide architectural direction across agentic and generative AI, conversational AI, CCaaS/UCaaS, digital telephony, RingCentral, Engage, NiCE, and Cognigy.
Ensure availability, performance, security, and scalability of communications platforms across regions; oversee incident response, business continuity planning, responsible AI governance, and compliance with applicable standards and regulations.
Own vendor strategy and budget accountability, including contract negotiations, cost-benefit analysis, and CapEx/OpEx management.
Build, mentor, and develop a high-performing communications operations and digital development/architecture team; develop cloud and AI capabilities, define career paths, conduct performance evaluations, and lead recruitment and onboarding.
Sponsor and provide executive oversight for platform upgrades, multi-region cloud migrations, and channel deployments, ensuring delivery on time, on budget, and in alignment with enterprise architecture standards.
Serve as the primary executive liaison for unified communications and communicate technical strategy in terms of business impact to C-suite and cross-functional stakeholders.
Partner with IT Security, Infrastructure, and Development leaders to align communications platforms with enterprise standards and broader IT strategy, while fostering collaboration and continuous improvement.
Lead global cross-functional planning and execution with IT teams, including regional support organizations, establishing shared delivery and support models, ownership, and escalation paths.