About the Team
OpenAI Finance is responsible for ensuring the organization is set up for success in pursuit of its mission. The Procurement team is responsible for empowering our employees and executives with seamless travel experiences, efficient expense management systems, and cost-effective solutions. Our mission is to deliver exceptional operational support while driving compliance, cost savings, and process improvements.
About the Role
We are hiring a Global Travel & Expense Lead to lead and scale OpenAI’s global T&E operations, ensuring they meet the demands of a rapidly growing organization. This role will oversee travel and expense policies, vendor negotiations, and high-touch executive travel support while driving automation and process efficiencies. The Global Travel & Expense Lead will play a critical role in ensuring operational excellence and delivering strategic insights that align with OpenAI’s financial objectives.
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:
Global Travel Management:
Oversee the global travel program, ensuring alignment with corporate policies and objectives.
Develop, implement, and maintain corporate travel policies, ensuring compliance with industry regulations and company standards.
Continuously monitor and improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the travel program.
Expense Management Leadership:
Lead the expense reporting function, ensuring compliance with global financial and tax regulations.
Partner with Finance to analyze expense trends and optimize spend.
Implement tools and systems to streamline workflows and enhance the user experience.
Vendor Management & Negotiations:
Establish and maintain relationships with travel service providers (airlines, hotels, rental car agencies, travel agencies).
Lead contract negotiations to secure competitive rates, discounts, and benefits.
Manage travel supplier performance through service level agreements (SLAs) and regular reviews.
Data-Driven Insights & Reporting:
Develop key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure T&E program effectiveness.
Provide actionable insights to leadership on trends, compliance, and opportunities for cost savings.
Report on program performance to ensure alignment with organizational goals.
Compliance & Risk Management:
Ensure adherence to all internal and external travel policies and regulations.
Monitor changes in global travel regulations and make necessary adjustments to company policies.
Oversee duty-of-care responsibilities, ensuring employee safety and security during travel.
Process Improvement:
Drive continuous improvement in travel processes and technology to enhance efficiency.
Recommend and implement new technology to enhance accuracy, reduce errors, and improve operational efficiency.
Executive Travel Support:
Provide high-touch, customized travel support for executives, VIPs, and key stakeholders.
Ensure a seamless, stress-free travel experience by managing complex itineraries and addressing any travel-related issues in real-time.
Traveler Support & Communication:
Proactively communicate travel program changes, updates, and guidelines to employees.
Ensure a positive travel experience through excellent customer service and timely problem resolution.
Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement:
Build and lead a high-performing team to execute travel and expense program initiatives.
Build strong relationships across the organization, ensuring alignment and buy-in for T&E initiatives.
You might thrive in this role if you have:
Education:
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Hospitality, Travel Management, or a related field.
Preferred qualifications include membership in professional organizations like GBTA or equivalent, with certifications such as GTP being highly desirable.
Experience:
7+ years of experience in corporate travel and expense management including global program oversight.
Proven experience leading teams and managing high-touch executive travel support.
Experience implementing or managing expense reporting systems such as Concur, Navan, Brex, etc.
Skills:
Strong negotiation skills with the ability to secure cost-effective travel solutions.
Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, with attention to detail.
Ability to manage multiple priorities and work effectively in a fast-paced, global environment.
Strong communication and interpersonal skills to work with cross-functional teams and executives.
Proficient in travel management software and tools (Navan preferred; Concur, Egencia, TripActions).
Experience driving process automation and implementing new technologies.
Experience in procurement or finance functions related to travel spend.
Familiarity with global travel regulations and duty of care practices.
Knowledge of travel risk management and safety protocols.
About OpenAI
OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. We push the boundaries of the capabilities of AI systems and seek to safely deploy them to the world through our products. AI is an extremely powerful tool that must be created with safety and human needs at its core, and to achieve our mission, we must encompass and value the many different perspectives, voices, and experiences that form the full spectrum of humanity.
We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability or any other legally protected status.
OpenAI Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity Policy Statement
For US Based Candidates: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, and requests can be made via this link.
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At OpenAI, we believe artificial intelligence has the potential to help people solve immense global challenges, and we want the upside of AI to be widely shared. Join us in shaping the future of technology.
