Travel & Expense Manager

OSTTRA India

TheRole:Travel & Expense Manager

The Team: The OSTTRA Technology team is composed of Capital Markets Technology professionals, who build, support and protect the applications that operate our network. The technology landscape includes high-performance, high-volume applications as well as compute intensive applications, leveraging contemporary microservices, cloud-based architectures

Whats in it for you: The OSTTRA travel and expense manager will play an essential role in handling and overseeing the corporate travel arrangements, ensuring all trips align with the company's policies and budgets, and addressing cost efficiency and traveller satisfaction.

The Travel Managers' influence requires them to contribute significantly to operational efficiencies through effective travel and expense management, system optimisation, and robust oversight of T&E card usage, all while optimising expenditure and supporting employee productivity within policy constraints.

Given our global connectivity, seamlessly managing corporate travel is crucial in supporting and facilitating our international business operations. Your efforts, often behind the scenes, will ensure that business travel is safe, economical, and aligned with strategic business goals, supporting the enterprise's overall success.

Role and responsibilities of a travel manager

The Travel Manager is responsible for coordinating all aspects of travel and encompasses several duties, including but not limited to:

• Travel policy development and implementation: Create and maintain a travel policy that fits OSTTRAs goals and culture, working with the CFO to set approved guidelines for expenses, travel methods, and accommodation.
• Supplier management: Negotiate where necessary with suppliers such as airlines, hotels, and car rental companies, establishing preferred suppliers and securing the best rates and services.
• Booking and itinerary management: Work with our Global Travel Partner to provide oversight to ensure that all travel arrangements meet employee needs and company policy.
• Expense management: Perform travel and expense (T&E) spending reporting and analysis to optimise budgets, track travel expenses across the Company, and ensure compliance with expense policy.
• Travel risk management: Work with OSTTRA Legal, Risk, and Compliance to ensure travellers' safety by staying current with global travel events and providing solutions for travel-related emergencies.
• Sustainability: Develop appropriate practices that may reduce the environmental impact of business travel.
• System Optimization: Serve as the subject matter expert for travel booking and expense management systems (e.g., SAP Concur, AMEX Global Travel), driving continuous improvement, system optimisation, and user adoption.
• Corporate Card (T&E, p-cards) Management: Administer and manage T&E card programs, including issuance, reconciliation, remittance, and compliance monitoring.
• Employee Management: Serve as employees' primary point of contact regarding travel and expense policies, procedures, and system usage. Document frequently asked questions and contribute to the T&E knowledge base or self-service resources

To be successful in this role, the Travel Manager must possess a mix of negotiating skills, organisational ability, and foresight. They must be adept at:

• Communication: Clear and effective communication with both stakeholders and travellers, conveying policies and plans succinctly and persuasively.

• Analytical skills: Analysing data to enhance decision-making processes and improve the cost-effectiveness of travel arrangements, identifying cost-saving opportunities, and improving travel schemes.
• Budgetary: Working with the Finance team to ensure that all travel arrangements stay within budget and align with company policies.

• Adaptability: The ability to adapt to changing travel conditions, economic fluctuations, and corporate shifts.
• Problem-solving: Prompt resolution of issues arising with travel arrangements or disputes with service providers.
• Technological proficiency: A subject matter expert on our travel booking solutions, data analysis tools, driving system optimisation, and user training.

Desired experience:

• Experience in the travel industry, particularly in global corporate travel and expense management.
• Strong understanding of travel policies, procedures, and compliance requirements.
• Experience with expense management systems and travel booking tools, ideally SAP Concur and AMEX Global Travel platforms.
• Experience with vendor management and contract negotiation.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Project management skills to handle multiple priorities effectively.