Travel & Expense Manager

Summary

Join Airbnb's Procurement Services Team as a Business Travel Manager and play a key role in shaping the way employees travel, ensuring it's seamless, sustainable, and strategically aligned with business goals. You'll manage travel supplier partnerships, travel technology, and service transformation efforts, making business travel at Airbnb as thoughtful and innovative as the homes and experiences offered to guests. This role involves optimizing travel programs, leading change initiatives, and fostering stakeholder engagement to drive the adoption of innovative travel solutions. You'll also manage day-to-day operations, oversee a small team of outsourced resources, and cultivate strong relationships with internal stakeholders and suppliers.

Requirements

• 8+ years of experience developing and managing global travel & expense programs, including expertise with Concur Travel & Expense, American Express, Citibank Corporate Card Programs, Ramp, Brex, Spotnana, and TripSource
• Experience working with a global digital workforce, demonstrating strong cross-cultural communication skills
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent studies in Business, Finance, Accounting, or a related field
• Strong communication and customer service skills, both written and verbal, with a highly customer-focused approach to internal processes
• Ability to adapt to changing priorities and needs, showcasing flexibility and resilience
• High attention to detail combined with strong organizational and project management skills, fostering effective teamwork
• Proficient in Google Suite applications, online booking tools, and commercial card and expense software industries
• Experience in travel agency vendor management and developing outstanding cross-functional relationships
• Self-starter capable of translating complex business requirements into effective program solutions
• Prior experience developing travel and expense programs in similarly sized organizations

Responsibilities

• Evaluate trade-offs, constraints, and ROI related to travel policies, supplier negotiations, and technology investments while ensuring alignment with overall business objectives to contribute to cost savings and operational efficiencies
• Lead change initiatives by fostering stakeholder engagement and driving motivation for the adoption of innovative travel tools, policies, and processes, ensuring end-user adoption and smooth integration with existing systems
• Optimize operational processes and enhance user experience through technology improvements, while analyzing travel spend and usage patterns to provide informed recommendations for continuous program refinement
• Utilize data insights to report on travel performance, identify opportunities for improvement, and leverage these insights to optimize travel and meetings spend, balancing flexibility and experience
• Develop comprehensive frameworks, policies, and processes supporting Airbnb employees in planning and managing business meetings, events, and intentional gatherings, while partnering with internal teams to streamline approvals and vendor management
• Cultivate strong relationships with internal stakeholders, suppliers, and employees to build trust and encourage collaboration, acting as a liaison between stakeholders and the procurement team during transformation initiatives
• Oversee day-to-day operations of the Business Travel program with Travel Management Company and third-party vendors, ensuring adherence to SLAs and contract utilization, while performing audits to maintain accuracy and compliance with company policies
• Manage a small team of outsourced resources, driving performance and ensuring alignment with departmental goals, providing training and support to enhance team capabilities in travel management
• Respond to internal customer inquiries on business travel and educate employees on self-service capabilities to encourage efficient resolution, while reporting on business travel metrics and delivering actionable intelligence to senior management
• Produce and deliver training presentations on travel, expense, and payment for new hires, assist with training related to merger and acquisition roadmaps, and perform additional duties as assigned to support overall procurement objectives

Benefits

• This role may also be eligible for bonus, equity, benefits, and Employee Travel Credits
• Pay Range $129,000 — $161,500 USD