Director, Travel

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🔥 0 minutes ago

🇺🇸 United States – Remote

💵 $125.4k - $181.9k / year

⏰ Full Time

🔴 Lead

👔 Director

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Empower

WebsiteLinkedInAll Job Openings

10,000+ employees

💸 Finance

💳 Fintech

👥 B2C

Finance • Fintech • B2C

Empower is a leading provider of financial services focused on helping individuals and organizations achieve financial freedom through retirement planning and investment management. Serving over 19 million Americans, Empower offers a comprehensive suite of finance-related services, including smart planning and investment advice, and tools like the Empower Personal Dashboard™ for a complete financial view. The company is renowned as a top retirement plan provider and works closely with personal investors, workplace plan savers, plan sponsors, and financial professionals. Empower is also recognized for initiatives in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and has a social commitment that bolsters community impact.

📋 Description

• Partner with the Head of Global Conference Planning and Travel for the corporate travel program, establishing goals, KPIs, and continuous improvement initiatives. • Serve as the senior travel advisor to executive leadership and key business stakeholders, including Empower CEO and Great West Life Chairman. • Lead travel transformation initiatives, process redesign efforts, and technology modernization projects. • Lead cross-functional initiatives involving travel, meetings, mobility, workforce planning, procurement, finance, and employee experience. • Influence organizational decisions through travel analytics, benchmarking, strategic recommendations, and data-driven insights. • Develop and monitor annual objectives, key performance indicators (KPIs), and strategic priorities for the travel function. • Own the development, maintenance, and communication of Empower's travel policy and related governance processes. • Recommend policy enhancements based on business needs, industry trends, traveler feedback, and cost considerations. • Review and approve policy exceptions and escalation requests. • Effectively manage the annual corporate travel budget, including forecasting, spend monitoring, variance analysis, and reporting. • Identify and implement cost-saving opportunities that achieve travel targets or optimize travel spend while supporting traveler productivity and satisfaction. • Monitor travel expenditures, supplier performance, and program return on investment (ROI), identifying opportunities for efficiency and continuous improvement. • Oversee management of unused ticket programs, travel credits, refunds, and reconciliation processes. • Lead strategic supplier negotiations and annual business reviews with key travel partners, including airlines, hotels, ground transportation providers, travel management companies (TMCs), meetings providers, and travel technology partners. • Develop sourcing strategies that maximize savings, service quality, traveler safety, and program value. • Identify and implement opportunities for supplier consolidation and preferred vendor utilization. • Evaluate and implement innovative supplier solutions that improve traveler experience and operational efficiency. • Provide strategic and compliance oversight of travel technologies, including Concur, SABRE GDS, CVENT, ARC, and related platforms. • Lead technology adoption and optimization initiatives that improve automation, reporting capabilities, compliance monitoring, and traveler self-service functionality. • Champion digital transformation and continuous improvement initiatives across travel operations. • Ensure travel systems support business requirements, operational objectives, and risk management needs. • Oversee travel risk management, traveler safety, crisis response, and duty-of-care programs. • Monitor global travel risks with ISOS and implement processes to support business continuity and traveler well-being. • Lead travel-related business continuity planning and emergency response strategies. • Lead Empower’s corporate travel team, including group and core agents, to provide day-to-day oversight, ensure a positive traveler experience, and provide guidance and resolution for complex travel issues. • Drive workforce planning, succession planning, talent development, and organizational capability-building initiatives. • Establish performance expectations and accountability measures aligned with business objectives and customer satisfaction goals. • Lead, develop, and mentor team members while fostering a high-performance culture focused on accountability, innovation, continuous improvement, and service excellence.

🎯 Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Travel Management, Hospitality Management, Supply Chain, Finance, or a related field; or an equivalent combination of education and experience. • 12+ years of progressive corporate travel management experience. • 6+ years of leadership experience managing managers, professional staff, and/or multiple functional teams. • Demonstrated experience leading global travel programs within a large, complex organization. • Extensive experience negotiating and managing enterprise supplier contracts and strategic partnerships. • Strong knowledge of corporate travel operations, travel technologies, policy governance, travel risk management, and duty-of-care practices. • Proven experience leading organizational change, operational transformation, and process improvement initiatives. • Strong financial acumen, including experience managing budgets, forecasting, cost containment programs, and executive reporting. • Exceptional communication, presentation, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills. • Demonstrated ability to influence senior leaders and drive results across multiple business functions. • Global Travel Professional (GTP), Certified Travel Manager (CTM), or other relevant industry certification. • Advanced degree (MBA or related discipline). • Experience supporting highly regulated industries or complex global organizations. • Experience overseeing meetings, events, mobility, or related travel-adjacent programs.

🏖️ Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision and life insurance • Retirement savings – 401(k) plan with generous company matching contributions (up to 6%), financial advisory services, potential company discretionary contribution, and a broad investment lineup • Tuition reimbursement up to $5,250/year • Business-casual environment that includes the option to wear jeans • Generous paid time off upon hire – including a paid time off program plus ten paid company holidays and three floating holidays each calendar year • Paid volunteer time — 16 hours per calendar year • Leave of absence programs – including paid parental leave, paid short- and long-term disability, and Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) • Business Resource Groups (BRGs) – BRGs facilitate inclusion and collaboration across our business internally and throughout the communities where we live, work and play. BRGs are open to all.