Travel Operations Lead

About the role

The Procurement organization enables our mission by ensuring every dollar is spent responsibly, compliantly, and efficiently. As a key part of this function, this role reports to the Head of Travel & Expense (T&E) and partners closely with Procurement Operations, Accounting, Finance, and business stakeholders to own and scale the company's global Events strategy, operations, and compliance. We are looking for a Travel Operations Lead to own and mature the operating model behind OpenAI's executive and employee travel programs. This role will be hands-on in executive travel support while also building the policies, supplier relationships, data, systems, and AI-enabled workflows that allow the program to scale with speed, confidentiality, safety, and control. This person will oversee high-touch executive travel support, including complex commercial travel globally; manage travel agency and supplier performance; own the executive travel policy; and partner with Executive Business Partners to ensure travelers receive timely, high-quality support. The role will also own core employee travel operations, TMC support, on-the-road escalation management, executive travel reporting for tax and compliance purposes, and guest T&E programs.

Requirements

• You bring:
• 7+ years of experience in travel, executive operations, expense, corporate cards, sourcing, finance operations, or a related T&E role.
• High AI fluency, with demonstrated ability to use AI tools to improve how work gets done, reduce manual effort, strengthen analysis, improve documentation, and create scalable operating leverage.
• Strong understanding of how the in-trip experience is affected by disruptions, destination risk, traveler context, supplier performance, policy design, booking quality, and support responsiveness.
• Ability to improve operational processes through better data, automation, workflow design, and exception-based ways of working.
• Strong systems understanding, with the ability to understand how data flows across procurement, travel, finance, tax, card, and reporting platforms.
• High attention to detail and a strong sense of ownership for data accuracy, completeness, confidentiality, and consistency.
• Ability to identify patterns in operational issues and translate them into better processes, standards, controls, and system improvements.
• Practical judgment around AI adoption, including where automation can accelerate work, where human review matters, and how to build trust with travelers and cross-functional partners.
• Comfort working across HR, Finance, Accounting, Procurement Operations, Tax, Legal, Security, Executive Business Partners, and business stakeholders.
• Clear communication skills and the ability to explain process requirements in a practical, enablement-focused way.
• Sound judgment when handling confidential executive travel information, sensitive traveler data, guest information, and supplier performance concerns.
• Ability to operate in ambiguity, bring structure to evolving processes, and raise the bar as volume and complexity increase.
• Workplace & Location
• This role is based in San Francisco, CA. We use a hybrid work model of 3 days in the office per week and offer relocation assistance to new employees.
• In this role, you will:
• Own the executive travel operating model, including support workflows, escalation paths, SLA management, policy ownership, supplier coordination, and program governance.
• Lead high-touch executive travel support including complex commercial travel globally, balancing speed, confidentiality, safety, and experience.
• Manage the procurement process for executive travel, including supplier engagement, service expectations, documentation, spend visibility, and compliance with procurement and finance requirements.
• Own and continuously improve the executive travel policy, translating edge cases into clear standards, practical guardrails, and scalable approval paths.
• Partner with Executive Business Partners to optimize support, improve satisfaction, clarify handoffs, and ensure executives and travelers can travel safely and effectively.
• Oversee employee travel support related to TMC service delivery, on-the-road support, disruption management, traveler enablement, an

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