The Director, Corporate Travel Operations, leads the strategy, performance and continuous transformation of a 24x7x365 corporate travel service operation supporting travelers across voice, chat, text and email. This leader is accountable for consistent and high-quality service; operational and financial results; workforce capacity and productivity; talent development; and effective support of client retention and growth. The Director builds an operating model that combines skilled travel professionals with automation, artificial intelligence and modern workflow tools so the organization can handle greater volume and complexity, improve speed and quality, and enable employees to focus on disruption management, complex itineraries, VIP service and other high-value traveler needs. The role provides direct leadership to operations managers and leaders and oversight of 70+ employees across domestic, international, VIP, after-hours, online fulfillment, group air and related service teams. The Director partners closely with Travel Technology, Account Management, Sales, Human Resources, suppliers and enterprise technology teams to optimize Sabre, Genesys, mid-office and quality-control automation, digital service channels, knowledge management and emerging AI capabilities while maintaining appropriate human oversight, data privacy, security and compliance.
This is a Hybrid position reporting into Cincinnati, OH or Wilmington, DE office 3 days per week.
Competitive annual salary; the starting base compensation for this position is: $105,147 - $170,000. The base pay range shown is a guideline for compensation and ultimate salary offered will be based on factors such as applicant experience and geographic location.
The primary duties of the Director, Corporate Travel Operations are:
- Set and execute the operating strategy for a 24x7x365, multi-team corporate travel service center, translating business priorities into measurable service, financial, productivity, quality and employee outcomes.
- Lead, develop and hold accountable managers and operational leaders responsible for domestic, international, VIP, after-hours, online fulfillment, group air and other specialized service teams; establish clear succession, workforce and leadership-development plans.
- Own omnichannel service delivery across voice, chat, text and email, including channel strategy, routing, prioritization, response standards, escalation practices and consistent traveler experience.
- Direct workforce planning and capacity management using demand forecasts, schedules, skill profiles, and cross-training to align staffing with client commitments and business needs.
- Establish and monitor operational scorecards and service-level agreements, including response time, speed to answer, abandonment, productivity, quality, first-contact resolution, rework, traveler satisfaction, employee engagement and financial performance; require timely corrective action when results are off plan.
- Build and deliver an automation and AI-enabled operations roadmap in partnership with Travel Technology and enterprise technology teams. Identify high-volume, repeatable work appropriate for automation; define business requirements; prioritize use cases; test solutions; measure realized benefits; and scale successful capabilities.
- Use artificial intelligence to augment—not replace sound operational judgment—through agent assistance, knowledge retrieval, interaction summarization, quality review, forecasting, workflow orchestration and self-service. Maintain human oversight and appropriate controls for accuracy, traveler safety, privacy, security, bias, compliance and escalation.
- Optimize Sabre workflows, scripts and agent practices; Genesys routing, workforce engagement and analytics; mid-office, quality-control, ticketing and fulfillment automation; and integrations that reduce manual effort, errors and avoidable contacts.
- Redesign processes and roles so automation increases capacity and enables travel professionals to devote more time to complex itineraries, disruption management, consultative support, VIP service and other high-value traveler needs.
- Lead structured change management for new technology, process and service-model deployments, including frontline involvement, communications, training, adoption measures, feedback loops and benefit realization.
- Maintain operational readiness and business continuity for weather events, supplier disruptions, system outages, security incidents and other irregular operations; ensure clear command, communications, escalation and recovery procedures.
- Own the operating budget and expense performance with the Vice President of Corporate Travel, explain variances, develop productivity and investment business cases, and balance service, growth, employee sustainability and cost objectives.
- Partner with Account Management and Sales on client retention, business reviews, implementations, prospect presentations and solution design; communicate operational capabilities, performance, risks and improvement plans credibly to clients and senior leaders.
- Collaborate with supplier partners and internal stakeholders to improve traveler outcomes, support preferred-supplier strategies and maximize appropriate revenue opportunities without compromising policy, service or traveler needs.
- Establish consistent operating policies, quality standards, knowledge-management practices and controls; ensure compliance with company requirements and applicable travel-industry, payment, privacy and security obligations.
- Monitor corporate travel, call center, distribution, servicing and AI trends; benchmark capabilities and selectively introduce practices that produce measurable business value.
- Foster an inclusive, accountable and high-performing culture through visible leadership, coaching, recognition, employee listening and disciplined performance management.
- Other duties as assigned.
Minimum Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in business, travel, operations, technology or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and progressively responsible experience.
- 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in corporate travel operations, travel agency operations or a comparably complex service environment, including significant leadership of managers and large teams.
- Demonstrated experience leading a 24x7x365, high-volume call center or travel service operation across multiple channels and distributed or virtual teams.
- Strong working knowledge of Sabre or a comparable global distribution system; direct Sabre operational experience is strongly preferred.
- Experience with Genesys or a comparable cloud contact-center platform, including routing, workforce management, quality management, reporting and digital channels.
- Experience implementing or optimizing mid-office, quality-control, fulfillment, workflow, robotic process automation or employee-assist technologies in a travel environment.
- Demonstrated record of using automation, analytics and AI-enabled capabilities to improve capacity, service, quality or cost while sustaining appropriate human oversight and employee adoption.
- Experience owning budgets, workforce plans, operational metrics and improvement portfolios, with the ability to quantify business cases and realized benefits.
- Experience supporting client retention, implementations, business reviews and executive or prospect presentations is preferred.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
- Strategic operations leadership with the ability to convert enterprise and Corporate Travel goals into executable plans, clear accountabilities and measurable results.
- Deep understanding of corporate travel servicing, GDS workflows, ticketing, exchanges, disruptions, online and offline fulfillment, VIP service, after-hours operations and traveler care.
- Fluency in contact-center operations and analytics, including omnichannel demand, skill-based routing, workforce management, service levels, quality and employee performance.
- Practical understanding of generative AI, conversational AI, machine learning, robotic process automation and workflow automation sufficient to identify use cases, challenge assumptions, manage risk and evaluate outcomes; software-development expertise is not required.
- Strong data literacy and problem-solving skills; able to integrate operational, financial, workforce, quality and traveler-experience data into decisions and concise executive narratives.
- Sound judgment regarding where automation should be applied and where skilled human intervention remains essential, particularly for traveler safety, complex service, exceptions and sensitive interactions.
- Proven ability to lead transformation across people, process and technology; builds adoption through transparency, involvement, training, reinforcement and measurable follow-through.
- Strong financial and commercial acumen, including budgeting, productivity economics, vendor management, investment prioritization and benefit realization.
- Exceptional people leadership, including selection and development of leaders, succession planning, coaching, performance management, engagement and change resilience.
- Executive-level written, verbal and presentation skills; able to communicate operational issues, technology choices, risks and results clearly to employees, clients, prospects, suppliers and senior leadership.
- Collaborative enterprise mindset and the ability to influence across Operations, Travel Technology, Account Management, Sales, Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology, Security and external partners.
- Calm, decisive leadership during irregular operations, service failures and competing priorities, with strong escalation and risk-management discipline.
- High integrity and commitment to traveler care, employee development, responsible AI, data privacy, security and continuous improvement..
Full time Associates are offered a comprehensive benefits package that includes:
- Medical, Dental, and Vision plan options
- Up to 2 weeks Paid parental leave
- 401k plan with company match up to 7%
- 2+ weeks of PTO within your first year
- Paid company holidays
- Company provided volunteer opportunities + 1 volunteer day per year
- Free AAA Membership
- Continual learning reimbursement up to $5,250 per year
- And MORE! Check out our Benefits Page for more information
ACA is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local employment practices laws. At ACA, we are committed to cultivating a welcoming and inclusive workplace of team members with diverse backgrounds and experiences to enable us to meet our goals and support our values while serving our Members and customers. We strive to attract and retain candidates with a passion for their work and we encourage all qualified individuals to apply. It is ACA’s policy to employ the best qualified individuals available for all positions. Hiring decisions are based upon ACA’s operating needs, and applicant qualifications including, but not limited to, experience, skills, ability, availability, cooperation, and job performance.
Job Category:
Sales
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