Corporate Planning & Management, Global Procurement – EMEA Travel Manager, Vice President, Birmingham

Overview

In this role you will lead the EMEA travel operations to deliver a seamless, compliant, and cost-efficient travel program. You’ll align regional operations with global policies, partner with travel vendors and internal teams, and drive continuous improvement in efficiency, risk management, and traveler experience. You’ll work with senior stakeholders across the firm to support a commercially effective global program and enable smooth business travel. This is a chance to shape travel strategy within a prestigious global financial institution.

Responsibilities

• Oversee EMEA travel operations to ensure regional-global consistency
• Manage escalations with root-cause analysis and timely resolutions
• Maintain key vendor relationships (TMC, booking platforms, outsourced delivery teams) for a consistent traveler experience
• Foster cross-functional relationships to ensure policies are followed and traveler experience is optimized
• Collaborate with finance and procurement on expense initiatives and policy changes in the region
• Partner with risk, Compliance, Legal, and Internal Audit to manage risk profiles and commitments
• Identify opportunities to simplify, control, and automate travel processes
• Analyze daily/weekly/monthly reports to identify trends and escalate risks
• Support divisions with issue resolution and solutioning on thematic travel challenges
• Contribute to implementing strategic platforms with process documentation and change management
• Ensure adherence to firm policies and procedures
• Build and maintain positive relationships with internal and external stakeholders
• Collaborate effectively in a team to sustain a positive team environment

Key requirements

• Graduate degree with 5+ years in travel or procurement
• Proven experience managing large-scale vendor contracts and travel programs
• Ability to challenge the status quo and deliver dynamic operational solutions
• Excellent client management and experience handling multiple global stakeholders
• Experience analyzing travel data and budgets
• Ability to collaborate with a global team to streamline processes and enable a follow-the-sun model
• Strong attention to detail, risk awareness, and commercial mindset
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with strong multi-tasking skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication
• Self-starter with motivation and ability to manage multiple projects

• strong communication skills
• client management
• cross-functional collaboration
• travel data analysis
• budget analysis
• risk assessment

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