Corporate Travel Manager

Job Description

Job Title:     Corporate Travel Manager

Location:     Easton, PA  

Overview

Our Corporate Travel department is a fast-paced, 24-hour operation focused on providing superior customer service and an excellent travel experience for our employees, customers, and executive team. In this role, the Corporate Travel Manager takes a leading role in organizing and managing travel, meeting, and event planning for the company. You will engage with senior leaders and their teams by providing advice, recommending solutions, and solving travel-related problems that may arise at any time, including outside of normal business hours. The Corporate Travel Manager will work closely with the executive team and their assistants to ensure an efficient and superior travel and event planning experience. This position requires 15-20% domestic and international travel.

Organization

The Corporate Travel Manager reports to the HR Vice-President in the company's Human Resources Department. The person in this role will engage with third-party travel partners co-located at our corporate headquarters. The travel team consists of one Meeting Coordinator.   

Performance Objectives

Establish Collaborative Relationships – During the first 30 days, Establish and reinforce relationships with Corporate Travel Consultant and key members of the Victaulic leadership team. Organize one-on-one meetings; meet with functional department leaders to better understand their needs.

Conduct Operational Review – During the first 90 days, conduct a complete operational review of all company travel guidelines, systems, and processes. Understand current and future company and event requirements and schedules. Become proficient in all Travel Software and understand the current vendors used in the department. 

President's Club – In close collaboration with CEO and EVP, Sales, organize the annual President's Club, including site selection, travel, and event planning for approximately 200 domestic and international employees and guests.

Regional Meeting and Events-  Assist, organize, and coordinate guest rooms, meeting rooms, food/ beverage, and meeting technology for approximately 30 meetings and events annually.  Meetings and events includes, but are not limited to,  Victaulic Board Meetings, regional sales meeting and training events.

Job responsibilities:

• Oversee all requirements, including rooms, meeting facilities, food/beverage, materials, etc., and arrange all events with the hotel or off-site venue/caterer/other vendors
• Manage event site selection process and contract negotiations with hotels and other venues for events
• Determine roles & responsibilities of Meetings Consultant to assure a flawless meeting onsite by coordinating all efforts with hotel and catering personnel
• Troubleshoot and correct travel/event-related issues as needed
• Establish vendor relationships and evaluate the performance
• Negotiate contracts or discounted rates with travel service providers
• Assist client group by booking reservations (flight, ground transporation, hotel, etc.)
• Build and maintain strong working relationships with colleagues and industry contacts.
• Be a resource to colleagues regarding the best travel options and cost
• Oversee onsite meeting coordinators and monitor day-to-day activities
• Drive continuous improvements to the travel program.
• Implement and manage strategies to control and reduce the company's annual budgets
• Achieve budgeted goals by closely monitoring all expenses

Experience

The person selected for this position should have more than five years of domestic and international meeting and planning experience. They must understand global travel requirements and demonstrate the ability to manage a travel budget for a mid-size company. A strong background in the hospitality industry is preferred. There should also be strong evidence of building collaborative relationships with employees at all levels in an organization. The candidate should have specific experience with Concur, Sabre (GDS). In addition, candidates should be able to demonstrate the following competencies:

• Corporate Travel Manager needs negotiation skills to negotiate contracts with suppliers and service providers
• Flexibility is the ability to adapt to changing circumstances. The person in this role is expected to be flexible due to the constantly changing nature of business travel and event planning. The person in this role must be available working outside normal business hours.
• Attention to detail to ensure trip, event and/or meeting plans are accurate and complete. This may include providing all necessary forms, documents, and agreements are signed and submitted on time and ensuring the details of each trip and event are completed.
• As a Corporate Travel Manager, communication is essential since conveying complex information in an easy-to-understand way is regularly required. This requires effective written and verbal communication skills such as phone calls, video conferencing, and face-to-face meetings.
• Corporate Travel Manager must possess organization skills that allow them to manage multiple projects at once or keep track of various details for each project. Having these skills will allow the person in this role to stay on top of work load and ensure all associated tasks are completed timely; while no compromising accuracy.
• Technology Savyness, including data analysis and report generation, is also critical in this role. The Corporate Travel Manager should be able to create reports for the company detailing the status of travel arrangements, track expenses, and other data related to corporate travel. They should also be able to make informed decisions using data and data analysis.
• The person in this role must have a thorough understanding of vendor management. The Corporate Travel Manager will be responsible for knowing what each vendor offers, how much it costs, and their payment policies. It's also essential for them to know which vendors provide the best value so they can make informed decisions when choosing suppliers.

About Victaulic

Since our first patent in 1919, Victaulic has been the originator and world's leading producer of mechanical pipe joining solutions. Used in the most demanding markets, Victaulic innovative piping technologies and services put people to work faster while increasing safety, ensuring reliability and maximizing efficiency. The company has over 50 global facilities worldwide with 6,000 employees who speak 43 languages across the globe. With over 4,000 active global patents, Victaulic solutions are at work in more than 140 countries across diverse business lines including oil and gas, chemical, mining, power generation, water and wastewater treatment, military and marine, as well as commercial building and fire protection. 

Victaulic is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status, age or any other federally protected class.