Senior Director of Event Travel, Navan Events

About the Role 

Meetings & Events for Navan Group is at a pivot point. We are evolving from siloed organizations into a unified, global "Meetings & Events" powerhouse. Our Operations need to build for the new future, where we deliver scaled, high quality managed services under the brand of Navan Events to our customers across the world. This role oversees Event Travel operations and people globally, and will help us build and expand our presence in new markets.  

The Senior Director, Global Event Travel is the single accountable leader for Navan and Reed & Mackay’s global event-air operation, encompassing both online, platform-enabled travel and offline, high-touch group-air services.

This leader will own the global strategy, operating model, and performance of Event Travel across online and offline air. They will ensure consistently excellent operational delivery, and bring online and offline teams together under one operating model. A central mandate is to expand the capabilities and adoption of Navan’s event-travel platform while preserving the specialist service required for complex, high-value, and high-risk travel programs.

What you'll do

• Lead a global organization of directors, managers, team leads, travel consultants, and coordinators. Drive a High-Performance Culture that grows talent in-house and propels high performers further in their careers
• Dissolve the Reed & Mackay and Navan silos. Build a unified way of operating that makes the most of Navan technology and the Reed & Mackay expertise.
• Own service quality, commercial performance, workforce planning, operational transformation, and the partnership with Product and Engineering required to rebuild appropriate offline workflows on Navan infrastructure 
• Define & implement the target state operating model for Event Travel. Outline and document the People, Processes, and Systems that deliver Event Travel to our global customer base. 
• Structure a global service delivery function that utilizes globally consistent tools and processes but empowers local decision making and experience.
• Ensure our tech stack enables operational scale rather than hindering it. You aren't just a recipient of product updates; you are an agent of change for our platform and technology. 
• Tell the ugly truths- you are a senior voice in the room. We expect you to present a positive, "can-do" front to the team, while being ruthlessly honest with leadership about where we are failing and what it will cost to fix it.

Success means unifying two teams operating on different tech stacks and processes into a single high performing unit. This requires a technology transformation where you partner with Navan’s Flights/Air Product & Engineering teams to build the right booking tools and capabilities so that we can manage customer Event travel through Navan. Success means being close to the process and the metrics- continuously measuring and managing performance improvement so that the Event Travel team raises the bar for what client delivery looks like. Most importantly, success means a unified team working together.

What we're looking for

• 10+ years of experience managing distributed travel operations teams across spans and layers
• Commercial ownership experience: operating budget, gross margin/contribution margin, forecasting, pricing, capacity forecasting, cost-to-serve and productivity
• Track record of building Product and Operations partnerships that produced measurable improvements in automation, service, and profitability
• Data-driven and disciplined about operating performance
• Thorough knowledge of the travel industry, fares, suppliers, and markets
• Familiarity with air booking tools and fulfillment systems
• Skilled at leading through organizational and technology change