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William Blair has delivered trusted advice for nearly nine decades, and we continue to deepen our expertise and relationships across regions, asset classes, and markets throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
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The Director of Travel leads efforts to shape and enhance the firm’s travel program strategies and policies to achieve operational efficiency, alignment with business priorities and ensure traveler’s safety and satisfaction remain at the forefront.
Responsibilities Include By May Not Be Limited To
- Travel program management and reporting:
- Lead and oversee all aspects of the firm’s global business travel program, including strategy development, periodic program effectiveness assessments, policy creation/enhancement and implementation, vendor identification/relationship management, overall program management and utilization reporting.
- Develop and analyze travel data to track key performance indicators (KPIs), identify trends, enable strategic decision-making, and create reports/presentations for senior management with program highlights/performance, cost savings, and trends.
- Introduce best practices that will elevate our travel program and the employee experience the services provide.
- Vendor Management:
- Direct, establish and maintain relationships with travel service providers (e.g., airlines, hotels, car rental companies, etc.) to effectively manage program offerings administered by providers.
- Manage the contract lifecycle for existing and new providers, including negotiation of terms and execution with clear scope of services to be rendered, favorable SLAs, optimal rates for services, escalation provisions, etc.
- Continuously evaluate vendor offerings and performance to optimize cost savings and ensure quality/service level agreements are met.
- Identify and evaluate new travel service providers/services and technologies that could enhance the firm’s current offerings and drive associated integration and implementation activities with respective teams.
- Serve as primary point of contact for vendor escalations (e.g., policy exception requests, service issues, etc.)
- Manage, process, and approve expenses/invoices associated with travel program partnerships.
- Stakeholder communication and engagement:
- Develop relationships with managers, employees, and functions to ensure the organization's travel needs are met and solicit feedback, as appropriate.
- Serve as an escalation point for firm leadership and for complex travel issues. Ensure issues are resolved quickly and to the satisfaction of the traveler.
- Partner with key internal stakeholders to communicate critical updates and drive adoption of new travel program offerings, technologies, and new travel policy guidelines.
- Staff/team management:
- Design an optimal team structure to support the firm’s travel program, working with the Department Head to solicit approval.
- Partner with the HR team on the development of job descriptions and to launch recruiting efforts for approved hiring needs.
- Effectively lead, manage, coach, and develop team member(s) to achieve a high-performing team capable of supporting the firm’s travel program’s goals/objectives and users.
- Additional responsibilities as requested.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's or Master's Degree required in related field
- 10+ years of travel management experience required
- 5+ years of management experience required
- Possess a comprehensive understanding of the travel industry
- High proficiency in travel booking systems, expense management software, and data analysis tools
- Proven ability to collaborate and communicate effectively within cross-functional teams and resolve issues
- Excellent negotiation and vendor management skills
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
- Effective leadership and team building skills, coupled with strong ability to hire, guide, and mentor team members
- Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, dynamic environment and manage multiple priorities simultaneously
- Strong problem-solving skills
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office products
William Blair is an equal opportunity employer. It complies with all laws and regulations that prohibit discrimination in employment practice because of race, color, religion, creed, ancestry, marital status, gender, age, national origin, sexual orientation, unfavorable discharge from the military service or on the basis of a physical or mental disability that is unrelated to the employee's ability to perform the duties of the job applied for. EOE m/f/d/v
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