Manager, Travel

PowerToFly; Bengaluru; On-site; INR 1,800,000 - 2,800,000; Full time

Job summary

Visa in Bengaluru is seeking a seasoned Travel Operations leader to manage AP region travel for employees, candidates and customers within Global Sourcing. You will partner with travel agencies, airlines, hotels, and internal stakeholders to ensure compliant, cost-efficient experiences while supporting a fast-paced environment.

Reporting to the Director of Global Travel Operations, you will drive process improvements, manage risk, and align regional needs with global policies across multiple

Qualifications

• Seven (7)+ years' regional experience managing corporate travel programs and systems.
• Knowledge of travel foundations such as GDS, NDC, OBT, and TMC functionality.
• Experience building relationships with travel partners including airlines, hotels, and TMCs.
• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, hospitality or travel management.

Responsibilities

• Trusted advisor to travelers, providing informed recommendations while adhering to Visa travel policies.
• Improve savings and traveler experience through increased adoption of online booking and policies.
• Manage relationships with travel agencies and providers to maximize value for the region.
• Coordinate with EU/CEMEA and Americas regional travel managers for global process alignment and local nuances.
• Ensure compliance with travel regulations and risk management; provide timely responses to inquiries.

Skills

Stakeholder management

Travel policy knowledge

Communication skills

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in business administration, hospitality management, travel management, or related field

Tools

GDS

NDC

OBT

TMC functionality

Job description

About Us

Visa is a world leader in payments technology, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories, dedicated to uplifting everyone, everywhere by being the best way to pay and be paid.

At Visa, you'll have the opportunity to create impact at scale — tackling meaningful challenges, growing your skills and seeing your contributions impact lives around the world.

Join Visa and do work that matters – to you, to your community, and to the world. Progress starts with you.

Job Description

Overview:

Global Sourcing is part of the Finance organization and manages Visa’s end-to-end sourcing of goods and services. Travel Services is part of Global Sourcing.
Sourcing is responsible for partnering with business owners relevant to assigned categories such as Travel and Meetings & Events (M&E) plus others to lead all strategic sourcing activities globally to ensure optimal selection of suppliers that deliver best value in price and quality, while minimizing risk to Visa.

Job Summary:

This role will manage our Travel Operations for Asia Pacific (AP) region’s travel for Visa employees, candidates and customers, relocations, etc. The ideal candidate is someone that has a deep regional domain expertise in travel management and who is strong in developing robust internal cross functional relationships and vendor relationships externally. This person will lead projects with AP regional focus for our travel services. In addition, this person will need to be able to work in a fast-paced environment and embrace the culture and how it applies to Travel Services. This role will report to the Director of Global Travel Operations.

Essential Functions:

This mid-level role within Visa’s Global Sourcing organization involves building relationships with key regional internal stakeholders across all levels of the organization, including Executives, Executive Assistants (EAs), and internal organizations such as Visa Mobility, Controllership, HR and Security. The AP Travel Manager will be responsible for working with the Visa-designated travel agencies and on-line booking tool providers.

Key responsibilities include, but are not limited to the following:

• Trusted advisor to all travelers by providing informed and insightful recommendations which provide the absolute best traveler experience in each situation while adhering to Visa’s travel policies.
• Provide support to travelers and regional stakeholders to demonstrate improved savings and traveler experience by increased adoption of online booking and other policies.
• Partner and nurture the relationship with our designated travel agency vendor. This includes devising workflows and seeking operational excellence to suit the travel needs of stakeholders.
• Partner with global sourcing partner for global air, hotel and ground transportation providers and add local and regional nuances and input to better support the region.
• Apply subject matter expertise to suggest regional and global ideas for policy and process improvements with stakeholders like Security, Controllership, etc.
• Socialize travel updates and announcements on internal platforms and promote program benefits to various groups such as EAs.
• Partner closely with Europe/Central Europe, Middle East and Africa (EU/CEMEA) and Americas regional travel managers to ensure alignment on global process with regional and local nuances to the programs.
• Work closely with the regional and country stakeholders to ensure consistency in the travel experience, while considering the local requirements.
• Projects And Operational
• Perform root cause analysis when problems arise to develop permanent corrective actions.
• Administer and respond in a timely manner to inquiries via Travel Services mailbox, AskTravel, etc.
• Manage the unused ticket report, supplier credits and other supplier incentives to maximize value and minimize expirations.
• Develop a deep understanding and become a subject matter expert for our travel tools and have an understanding of expense tools in relation to travel to support the travel program.
• Stay informed about industry trends and benchmarked best practices to drive innovation and improvement in travel management.
• Monitor and ensure compliance with travel policy and procedures.
• Ensure timely and accurate travel booking and travel agency communications.
• Assist with office openings and Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) onboarding–develop a workflow that can quickly and effectively support the new travelers (profiles, forms of payments, etc.) as well as the new travel patterns created.

Visa requires at least 3 days in office, expectations of these days will be confirmed by your Hiring Manager.

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications:

• Seven (7)+ years' regional experience managing corporate travel programs and systems.
• Functional knowledge of travel foundations such as GDS, NDC, OBT, and TMC functionality.
• Experience developing and supporting relationships with travel partners including TMCs, airlines, hotels, rental car providers, etc.
• Knowledge of regional travel regulations and compliance requirements.
• Proven track record of stakeholder management and cross-functional collaboration, including understanding stakeholder requirements to help them achieve their goals.
• Working knowledge of travel risk management policies and practices.
• Strong background in change management and implementing solutions.
• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, hospitality management, travel management, or a related field.

Preferred Qualifications

• Deep expertise in travel management company processes, and travel management software and tools.
• Experience utilizing data analytics to drive program improvements and demonstrate business value to stakeholders.
• Passion to deliver outstanding customer service, forge long-term relationships, and approach goals with team interests in mind.
• Demonstrated ability to manage supplier relationships and influence key vendor account executives.
• Willingness to provide thought leadership, to think positively, and to offer new ways of approaching old problems.
• Flexibility in working across time zones.

Qualities We’re Looking For

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate across all stakeholders effectively
• Strong organizational and problem-solving abilities
• Outstanding interpersonal skills
• Ability to analyze data and generate actionable insights
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a larger global team to set objectives and drive results
• Proficiency in multi-tasking and prioritizing with excellent time management
• Collaborate effectively as a part of a global team
• High level of self-motivation and initiative with the ability to operate as a team player
• Ability to be committed, resourceful and proactive in identifying problems, opportunities and solutions.

Visa is an EEO Employer

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status. Visa will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with EEOC guidelines and applicable local law.