Travel Enablement Leader - EMEA

 

Our purpose at Festive Road is simple: to create better travel and meetings management. Our client’s purpose is to “ensure their employees benefit from a consistent, safe and frictionless travel experience.” We are looking for a customer-centric, smart problem solver who is curious, adaptable, and flexible. If that sounds like you, read on! 

Location:  United Kingdom, Remote

Salary to be added 

Travel required – up to 10%  

 

We are seeking a Travel Enablement Leader - EMEA to own the strategic delivery, stakeholder management, operational governance, supply chain strategy and project management for our client. 

This organisation is transforming the way travel enables their global workforce to deliver exceptional outcomes for clients. As Travel Enablement Leader – EMEA, you will lead the delivery of the client's Travel Programme across the EMEA region while also holding responsibility for global supplier performance and operational consistency across the travel ecosystem. 

This role plays a critical part in ensuring that the client's workforce can travel safely, efficiently, and with minimal friction, allowing them to focus on client delivery and project success. It sits at the intersection of strategy, technology and operational delivery.  

Working at the centre of the global travel ecosystem, you will oversee the performance and evolution of the client's key global suppliers, including the appointed Travel Management Company. You will translate global strategy into regional outcomes. You will ensure that the programme delivers consistent operational service while continuing to evolve through digital innovation and operational improvements. 

In addition to regional programme delivery, you will own the Global Engagement pillar, with a strong focus on travel communications, programme adoption and stakeholder mapping and alignment. You will work with your regional colleagues to ensure their voices are heard and that this programme is rolled-out consistently. 

This role requires a strategic and consultative leader who can collaborate with suppliers, internal stakeholders, and regional programme leaders to continuously improve the client's travel ecosystem. 

This role is full of unique opportunities and variety. If you’re excited by the prospect of making a positive impact and growing alongside a supportive team, we’d love to connect! 

Don’t meet every single requirement? Here at Festive Road, we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles. 

 

Key Responsibilities: 

Regional Programme Leadership 

• You will lead the delivery of the client's Travel Programme across the EMEA region with precision and reliability, translating global strategy into regional implementation. You will ensure that the client's workforce benefit from a consistent, safe, and frictionless travel experience, while driving adoption and innovation of programme tools, processes, and policies through proactive stakeholder engagement. 

Traveller Engagement & Programme Adoption 

• You will own the Engagement pillar of the global travel programme by developing initiatives, which increase: 

• Programme awareness 

• Traveller engagement 

• Compliance and adoption 

Supplier & TMC Management 

• You will own and manage the relationship with suppliers across the EMEA region, including the Travel Management Company, driving service performance, innovation, and self service adoption. You will use your network to keep ahead of industry trends, ensuring that the programme evolves with market developments and future trends are addressed with insight and relevance. 

TMC Governance and Operational Performance  

• You will take leadership in overseeing the performance and delivery of the client's global TMC contract. You will monitor performance against KPIs and SLAs using both quantitative and qualitative data sources. You will manage global supplier reviews and manage a plan of continuous improvement initiatives aligned with the client goals.  

Stakeholder Engagement – mapping and delivery 

• You will build strong relationships with regional business leaders and stakeholders, act as a trusted advisor on travel strategy and programme evolution, and ensure the programme continues to support business growth and project delivery.

Meetings & Events Integration 

• You will support the integration of meetings and events travel within the broader travel ecosystem and ensure alignment between meetings programmes and travel technologies wherever possible. 

Key Skills 

• Experience managing TMC relationships and supplier programmes. 

• Ability to partner with key suppliers and demonstrate value driven in alignment with contracted goals. Ability to follow an agreed governance framework, holding suppliers to account and adopting a spirit of partnership to drive innovation. Understanding of the unique nuances in region. 
• Strong understanding of travel technology ecosystem. 

• Demonstrated and comprehensive knowledge of the travel technology ecosystem, how it works and how supply chain economics affect decision making. Ability to contribute to discussions, identify business requirements and build business plans based on this. Understanding of who and what to leverage to broaden knowledge and introduce new viewpoints. 
• Demonstrated ability to lead category procurement.  

• Align your category strategy with the company strategy and build a programme that supports this. Ensure stakeholder needs and requirements are well understood and shared with suppliers. Lead category sourcing activity and manage supplier governance to an agreed schedule. 

• Strong stakeholder management and consultative engagement style. 

• Ability to map stakeholders across a complex matrix organisation identifying sponsors, influencers and decision makers. Drive programme advocacy using a programme of planned engagements. Share ideas and updates in a way that's clear and understandable to the audience, from the bottom to the top of the organisation and report on progress.  

• Project Management. 

• Operates with autonomy and delivers confidently. Manages delivery against agreed project milestones and understands internal KPIs to ensure success. Communicates any adjustments or delays to project delivery openly and in good time to reset stakeholder expectations.  

• Experience using data and analytics to drive programme decisions. 

• Ability to transmit ideas and interpret data in a way that's clear and understandable to the audience, from the bottom to the top of the client organisation, in a variety of ways. Ability to convey complex insights, data and recommendations in a convincing and understandable way and to craft compelling stories. 

• Lead change and digital transformation initiatives. 

• Understanding of the management and impact of enterprise-wide transformation initiatives. Works with the client leader to agree business requirements and desired outcomes of any given initiatives. Seeks stakeholder input and ensures frequent and effective communications throughout. Builds trust through honest communications and flags risks and potential delays throughout life of project. 

 

Experience 

• Extensive experience in corporate travel programme management, 5 years +.

• Global mindset with experience working across international teams. 

• Strong understanding of travel technology ecosystems. 

• BA/BSc in business or related field. 

 

We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.