Travel and Compliance Manager

Spectrum Talent Management; Gurugram District; On-site; INR 3,000,000 - 5,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Circle K India seeks a senior Manager Travel, T&E Compliance, Audit & Reporting to govern and improve the global T&E programme. You will partner with Finance, HR, Procurement, Internal Audit and Navan to ensure compliant, data-led operations and automation across expenses.

You will lead policy governance, control design and reporting, driving continuous improvement and leakage reduction while aligning with Circle K standards.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of relevant experience across Travel Management, T&E Operations, Compliance and Audit.
• Experience with Navan or comparable TMC platform is highly desirable.
• Experience working with Finance, Procurement, Internal Audit, HR, Technology in a global org.

Responsibilities

• Oversee day-to-day global T&E operating processes, focusing on Navan and related expenses.
• Serve as operational SME for Navan: policy config, traveller profiles, approvals, reporting, exceptions.
• Monitor end-to-end travel lifecycle from request to reimbursement and reconciliation.
• Lead T&E policy governance, compliance framework and automated controls.
• Partner with TMC and suppliers to monitor SLAs and resolve operational issues.
• Develop dashboards and reporting covering spend, compliance, leakage and savings.
• Drive automation opportunities (RPA, workflows) to strengthen controls and efficiency.
• Collaborate with IT and stakeholders to implement changes and transition to BAU.

Skills

Travel management

T&E operations

Policy governance

Analytics

Stakeholder management

Automation

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Finance, Accounting, Travel Management, Operations

Master's degree or professional certification in Travel Management, Finance, Compliance, Audit, Process Transformation

Tools

Navan

Power BI

Power Automate

Excel

Job description

Role & responsibilities

• Job Description

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., (ACT) is a global Fortune 200 company (https://corpo.couche-tard.com/en/). A leader in convenience store and fuel space, it has a footprint across 31 countries and territories. ACT's India entity i.e. Circle K Business Centre India (CKBCI) is a wholly owned subsidiary and an integrated center, collaborating with our international teams supporting the delivery of ACT's global business operations.

About the role

This role will be based in Cyber Hub Gurugram. Manager Travel, T&E Compliance, Audit & Reporting will be responsible for the day-to-day governance, compliance, controls, reporting and continuous improvement of Circle K's Travel & Expense (T&E) programme and day to day governance of Travel Management Company (TMC).

The role will act as a central point of expertise for travel operations, TMC governance, T&E policy compliance, audit and controls, travel policy standardization, management reporting, training and process automation. The position will work closely with Finance, Procurement, Internal Audit, HR, Technology, business stakeholders, Navan/ Travel Management Company (TMC) to ensure that T&E processes are controlled, efficient, data-led and aligned with Circle K policies and internal-control and audit requirements.

The role will also lead opportunities to leverage automation and analytics to strengthen preventive controls, reduce manual effort, improve compliance and identify savings and leakage across the T&E ecosystem.

Roles & Responsibilities

Travel & T&E Operations

• Manage and oversee the day-to-day execution of the global T&E operating processes, with particular focus on travel booked through Navan and related travel expenses.
• Work closely with Director CKBCI to be the operational subject-matter expert for Navan, including policy configuration, traveller profiles, approval workflows, reporting, exceptions, and issue resolution.
• Monitor the end-to-end travel process from travel request and approval through booking, travel, expense submission, reimbursement and reconciliation.
• Establish and maintain clear procedures for handling travel and T&E exceptions, escalations, cancellations, refunds, and credits.
• Partner with the TMC, and other suppliers to monitor service levels and resolve recurring operational issues.

T&E Compliance & Policy Governance

• Monitor compliance with the Global T&E Policies and identify areas of non-compliance, control gaps and emerging risks.
• Develop and maintain a structured T&E compliance framework, including preventive and corrective controls.
• Monitor advance-booking compliance, pre-trip approval, preferred supplier usage, policy exceptions, out-of-channel bookings and other defined policy requirements.
• Ensure policies and policy changes are accurately translated into system rules, workflows and automated controls.
• Establish appropriate compliance mechanisms for different traveller groups, including executives, while maintaining appropriate visibility and governance.
• Coordinate policy communication, training and periodic awareness initiatives with HR and business stakeholders

Audit, Controls & Risk Management

• Own the operational response to T&E audit requirements and support Internal Audit, Finance and other control functions with evidence and analysis.
• Ensure T&E processes and automated reviews comply with internal policies, regulatory requirements, fraud-prevention controls and SOX/internal-control expectations, where applicable.
• Validate the effectiveness and accuracy of automated and AI-enabled T&E controls before and after implementation.
• Maintain audit trails, control documentation, standard operating procedures and evidence of exception resolution.
• Identify control weaknesses and recommend remediation actions with clear owners and timelines.
• Monitor recurring exceptions and investigate potential misuse, fraud, duplicate transactions or unusual spending patterns.

Reporting, Analytics & Insights

• Develop and maintain a T&E management reporting and dashboard framework covering spend, compliance, adoption, leakage, suppliers, exceptions and savings.
• Provide regular reporting to Finance, Procurement, leadership and other relevant stakeholders.
• Analyse travel spend across business units, traveller groups, suppliers, routes, categories and booking channels to identify trends and opportunities.
• Establish meaningful KPIs and dashboards to measure the effectiveness of the T&E programme.
• Develop reporting that provides visibility of Navan adoption versus off-platform spend, including root-cause analysis of leakage.
• Translate T&E data into actionable recommendations for policy, sourcing, supplier management and process improvement.

Process Improvement, Standardization & Automation

• Lead continuous improvement initiatives across the T&E process, with a focus on reducing manual intervention and strengthening controls.
• Identify opportunities to use RPA, workflow automation and analytics to improve T&E compliance and operational efficiency.
• Develop automated controls for areas such as:
• advance-booking compliance.
• pre-trip approval.
• policy exception monitoring.
• duplicate and high-risk expense detection.
• unused travel credit tracking.
• refund monitoring.
• off-platform booking/leakage detection; and
• automated compliance reporting.
• Work with Technology and business teams to define requirements, test solutions, validate outputs and transition automation into business-as-usual operations.
• Continuously assess whether existing controls can be simplified, automated or moved from detective to preventive controls.

Travel Spend & Supplier Governance

• Partner with Procurement to identify travel savings and supplier optimisation opportunities.
• Monitor utilisation of negotiated airline, hotel, car rental and other travel rates.
• Analyse supplier and channel performance and identify opportunities for consolidation or improved commercial terms.
• Support supplier reviews, RFPs and contract renewals with data, performance analysis and business requirements.
• Monitor the financial impact of unused credits, refunds, cancellations and other recoverable travel value Support strategies to improve Navan adoption and reduce unmanaged/off-platform travel spend

Stakeholder & Change Management

• Build strong relationships with Finance, Procurement, Internal Audit, HR, Technology, business leaders and travel stakeholders globally.
• Provide subject-matter expertise and guidance to employees, managers and delegates on T&E processes and policy.
• Support implementation of new T&E technology, policies, controls and operating-model changes.
• Develop communication and training materials and support adoption of new processes.
• Act as a change champion for the ongoing transformation of the T&E programme.

What Success Looks Like

Within the first 12 months, the successful candidate will have:

• Established a clear T&E governance and compliance framework.
• Created a reliable management dashboard providing visibility of travel spend, compliance, leakage and exceptions.
• Improved control and visibility over travel booked outside approved channels.
• Strengthened pre-trip approval and travel-policy compliance.
• Established a structured process for unused credits, refunds and travel exceptions.
• Identified and implemented high-value automation opportunities that reduce manual controls.
• Established effective governance with TMC and key travel suppliers.
• Built a sustainable T&E operating model with clear ownership, procedures, and reporting.
• Train
• Standardize global policies.
• Hotel booking

Key Performance Indicators

Success in the role will be measured through outcomes including:

• Reduction in off-platform/unmanaged travel spend.
• Improvement in travel-policy compliance and reduction in repeat exceptions.
• Increased percentage of travel subject to appropriate pre-trip approval and automated controls.
• Reduction in manual T&E compliance and audit activities through automation.
• Timely and accurate management reporting with clear actionable insights.
• Recovery and utilisation of unused travel credits and refunds.
• Reduction in duplicate, high-risk and potentially fraudulent transactions.
• Successful implementation of agreed T&E process‑improvement and automation initiatives.
• Strong supplier/TMC performance against agreed SLAs.
• Positive stakeholder and traveller experience.

Job Requirements

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Finance, Accounting, Travel Management, Operations, or a related discipline.
• Master's degree or professional certification in Travel Management, Finance, Compliance, Audit, Process Transformation

Experience

• 15+ years of relevant experience across Travel Management, T&E Operations, Finance Operations, Compliance, Audit, Shared Services, or Process Transformation.
• Experience managing or governing a corporate travel programme and/or T&E operations.
• Hands-on experience with Navan or a comparable corporate travel management platform is highly desirable.
• Experience working with Finance, Procurement, Internal Audit, HR, Technology, and business stakeholders within a global organization.
• Experience implementing and improving automated controls, workflows, reporting, analytics, or digital solutions.
• Experience supporting large-scale and/or multi-country travel and expense programmes are preferred.

Behavioral Skills

• Strong ownership and accountability with the ability to operate independently.
• Excellent problem-solving and analytical capability.
• Comfortable challenging existing processes and identifying better ways of working.
• Strong stakeholder-management and influencing skills across global teams.
• Ability to balance compliance, cost, control and traveler experience.
• Strong communication and presentation skills.
• High attention to detail without losing sight of the broader business objective.
• Demonstrates Circle K values: Take Ownership, One Team, Play to Win and Do the Right Thing.

Knowledge

• Strong understanding of corporate travel and T&E processes.
• Strong knowledge of travel policy, compliance, internal controls, audit and risk management.
• Strong analytical and data interpretation skills.
• Experience with Power BI, Power Automate, Excel and/or comparable analytics and automation tools.
• Understanding of APIs, RPA, AI-enabled controls and workflow automation.
• Ability to translate business policy into system rules and automated controls.
• Strong understanding of data quality, reporting and reconciliation.
• Knowledge of SOX/internal-control environments and fraud-prevention controls is an advantage.