US Travel Coordinator

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Job Description:

Travel Coordinator Job Description

The US Travel Coordinator will be responsible for regional management and execution of the US travel program and policies. This program includes, but is not limited to, travel management company, airlines, hotels, car rentals, ground transportation, trial/group travel, corporate housing, traveler security programs, as well as technology platforms for online booking, T&E, and meeting management. In addition, the Travel Coordinator will partner with internal stakeholders to develop and communicate the processes for booking, paying and logistics planning for all recruiting travel, as well as various other groups within the firm.

This role is ideal for an exceptional person who is passionate about providing high touch service delivery as well as an adaptable doer who is great at engaging with stakeholders, creative out of box thinkers, someone who likes to deal with data, can manage through customer service situations, and who possess a true ownership philosophy within a global law firm environment. A key responsibility for this position is to deliver travel services through efficient processes with high customer satisfaction while adhering to travel policy compliance and awareness of savings. The role requires a driven individual who is experienced in working for a global organization and leading managed travel programs, driving strategic travel relationships, and supporting company spend culture and knowledge of global travel industry and understanding of major global travel-related organizations (GBTA, ACTE, ISM etc.)

What You'll Do

Program & Relationship Management

* Develop strong working relationships with other departments on a global scale - Senior Leadership and Executive Assistants, Operations, IT, Finance, HR, and Practice Groups to develop trust within internal departments and stakeholders to ensure alignment when addressing competing priorities that require complex solutions.

* Building relationships with suppliers to position firm as a preferred customer.

* Assist in evaluating, recommending, and implementing new technology to improve and enhance traveler experience and improve effectiveness of travel program.

* Partner with TMC to implement new OBT functionality and travel training/webinars for travelers and travel arrangers.

* Conduct monthly training sessions for new hires to educate them on the Travel program.

* Monitor and troubleshoot various issues that arise from stakeholders and vendors.

* Collaborate with Security and HR to ensure security processes and tools are integrated into the travel program.

* Create a process to manage upgrades and other travel benefit programs

* Support the implementation of global projects related to travel tools and solutions, including 3rd party suppliers.

Operational Travel Management Support

* Serve as primary contact for the firm's travelers and the firms dedicated account manager to assist in service delivery issues as well as traveler experience.

* Manage traveler escalations and out of policy inquiries.

* Coordinate corrective actions validated between employees and the TMC.

* Provide information to support the firm's travelers and stakeholders during crisis events.

* Support travel related tools selected and purchased by the firm.

* Coordinate room blocks & registrations for large meetings/groups

* Supporting sourcing for sleeping rooms and war rooms for trial/arbitration teams.

* Monitor TMC performance, service levels and online booking tool (OBT) optimization.

Communication

* Provide targeted messaging, compliance KPIs and general management information to key stakeholder to deliver meaningful insight and messages to the traveler audience and other stakeholders within the organization.

* Build-out travel guides and communications templates and provide sample content to help drive change related to new processes, tools, and the dynamic travel environment.

* Coordinate and lead communications, progress, consistencies, and best practices in executing tactical/operational travel management activities.

* Update travel information on the firm's intranet and travel intranet sites; author traveler communication, guidance, and support.

* Support change management, employee education on travel policy content and communications on travel related activities to the relevant stakeholders in the organization.

* Facilitate communication between vendor, Ovation, GBT and/or the firm.

Program Savings, Compliance and Demand Management

* Review travel policy guidelines to assess travelers' compliance on all spend categories.

* Maintain appropriate procedures designed to provide awareness of travel policy guidelines and overall travel program knowledge.

* Monitor policy compliance and understand trends in traveler behavior.

* Review and monitor travel policies, guidelines and spend to deliver efficient travel and guide best-in-practice recommendations for improvements and provide change management strategies to drive travel program improvements and savings

* Assist in all travel related contracts (TMC, Hotel, Airline, Car rentals, Ground transportation, corporate housing etc.) to optimize total value of program compliance, spend visibility, and traveler experience.

Vendor/Supplier Support

* Support and maintain working relationships with vendors (airlines, hotels, rental cars, ground

transportation, travel management companies, card vendors, online booking tools, new travel technologies).

* Be initial contact for supplier support and escalations.

* Help develop business recommendations on travel program

Financial Planning

* Benchmark, analyze, monitor, and report on travel expenditures and compliance.

* Review reporting, including development of executive travel dashboards with data inclusive of spend, travel metrics for in-policy/out-of-policy compliance, plus volume trends along with exception reporting, budgeting, and forecasting.

* Collaborating and working closely with other parts of the organization to implement Total Cost of Ownership improvement opportunities within the specific categories.

* Sit in on Quarterly/Annual Business Reviews of service providers

Job Requirements:

* 5+ years of relevant work experience in travel / strategic sourcing and being involved in corporate travel programs.

* Experience in spend analysis, market, and benchmark analysis at a broad level

* Intellectual curiosity and a desire to be challenged

* Team player who is willing to support multiple areas of the business

* Strong, interpersonal, communication, and customer service skills

* Detail oriented, organized, and efficient

* Possess excellent analytical, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills

* Self-motivated with the ability to work in a fast-paced environment with minimal supervision