Job Description
At abrdn, our purpose is to enable our clients to be better investors.
Clients worldwide trust us to find future-fit investment opportunities to deliver the outcomes they want. Our technology and insight help empower them to make better decisions, while the powerful partnerships we build help to enhance the expertise that we offer. And by enabling clients to invest responsibly, it helps us to build a better world.
We have an exciting opportunity for a Global Travel Manager to join our Finance Team. This is a permanent role, based in Edinburgh.
About the Department
The Finance function is led by the Chief Financial Officer and comprises four specialist, centralised teams, and three vector-focused commercial teams, supported by a small CFO Office to run the function.
The Global Travel Manager sits within the CFO Office and plays a pivotal global role, responsible for the successful delivery of travel across all our business areas, working closely with the TMC.
About the Role
1. In co-ordination with the regional Travel Manager deliver training to EA/PAs, Business Managers and wider business to enable staff to self service - to enable them to use online booking and reporting tools.
2. Act as an approver for travel bookings where they have been raised by the system and monitor passive notifications liaising with bookers, travellers and approvers where bookings fall outside expected norms.
3. Work with Travel Manager in other region to provide effective out of hours cover for travellers across time zones.
4. Management of the regional relationship with the third party travel management company through the regional account manager. This includes monitoring of service levels, and escalation of issues through to resolution.
5. Act as a contact for large events, VIPs, guests and clients for whom we support travel bookings to understand requirements and support the booking of travel using on line booking tools and liaison with the TMC.
6. Support global mobility programmes where accommodation is required for extended periods.
7. Support the annual review of the travel policy by the CFO, bringing insight of emerging market trends, potential risks and opportunities.
8. Continue to drive sustainability and ensure travel industry changes (NDC fares/new technology) are understood and where necessary changes to policy/practices are implemented.
9. Work closely with procurement to manage the regional hotel program and to support abrdn’s procurement’s effective negotiation and management of airline and other travel programmes.
10. Work with the regional Travel Manager ensuring that Travel Policy is maintained and updates are made in line with business or legislative requirements.
11. Ensuring TMC are informed of travel policy changes and ensure their timely implementation and communication. Working with the support of the Finance System team within Finance Operations, ensure that changes to the application and policy levels are appropriately tested.
12. The development and provision of regular and ad hoc MI reports and dashboards to enable management to drive compliance with policy, manage travel costs and to effectively implement category purchasing programmes (such as global hotel programmes).
13. Provide expert narrative to support management in the interpretation of regular and ad hoc MI, bringing industry insight and commercial awareness.
14. Through the provision of data and insight support the budgeting and forecasting process, tax reviews and reporting, company mobile roaming charge management, and physical security team activities in safeguarding staff. Manage a variety of key global relationships (both Internal and External).
15. Build and maintain a traveller and booker champion community to understand how the travel service is performing and to ensure that there is effective engagement to promote continuous improvement.
16. Partner with the Expense and Control Lead to post travel costs to the finance ledgers, reconcile travel credit cards and to identify potential anomalies between expenses and travel bookings. Raising POs and tracking costs accordingly.
17. Maintain processes and procedures for travel delivery and management, ensuring they are reviewed with the TMC annually and communicated as required.
18. The monitoring of key controls and performance in accordance with the control framework to the required standard, managing any risk events in accordance with internal procedures.
19. Support in ad-hoc Functional administration should capacity allow.
About the Candidate Requirements
20. Experience in booking and managing domestic and international travel services
21. Track record of managing travel services and their provision through a TMC
22. Detailed understanding of travel booking, ticketing and visa expense processes including reporting, duty of care and regulatory requirements
23. Experience in managing a regional travel programme and working collaboratively in support of procurement activity
24. Understanding of risk and control in the context of travel management and financial transaction processing
25. Experience of delivery to international business divisions
26. Experience of delivering within a support service culture
27. Has demonstrated high levels of personal accountability and flexibility to prioritise and meet deadlines.
28. Good interpersonal skills and a great teammate who can work collaboratively to deliver common objectives
29. Confidentiality and probity
We are proud to announce that we have officially become a Disability Confident Committed – Level One employer. Therefore, if you have a disability and would like to submit an application to one of our UK roles under the Disability Confident Scheme, please notify us by completing the relevant section in our candidate questionnaire and one of our team will reach out to support you through your application process.
Our Benefits
There's more to working life than coming home with a good salary. We have an environment where you can learn, get involved and be supported.
When you join us, your reward will be one of the best around, including 40 days annual leave, a 16% employer pension contribution, a discretionary performance-based bonus (where applicable), private healthcare and a range of flexible benefits including gym discounts, season ticket loans and access to an employee discount site amongst many others. You can read more about our benefits