Manager, Travel Services at Navan

<p>The <strong>Manager, Travel Services</strong> leads a team of Travel Consultants and is accountable for team performance, service quality, employee development, and operational execution. This role supports Navan’s business goals while maintaining a best-in-class standard of service and fostering a culture of inclusion, trust, accountability, and teamwork.</p> <p>The Manager leads, motivates, challenges, and develops the team in line with our service philosophy:</p> <p><em>We provide industry-leading service that enables our customers to enjoy an exceptional and seamless travel and expense experience while achieving unparalleled levels of operational efficiency.</em></p> <h3><strong>What You’ll Do</strong></h3> <ul> <li>Develop team members through regular interaction reviews, coaching sessions, performance conversations, and 1:1 meetings.</li> <li>Maintain an in-depth understanding of the day-to-day responsibilities, workflows, tools, and challenges of Travel Consultants.</li> <li>Step in to manage email, voice, and chat interactions when operational support or escalation handling is required.</li> <li>Review LLM quality evaluations and assess travel bookings and customer requests across relevant travel tools to ensure consistently high service standards.</li> <li>Identify operational errors and quality gaps, provide constructive feedback, and coach consultants on corrective and preventative actions.</li> <li>Regularly review individual and team performance metrics to identify opportunities across critical competencies and develop appropriate improvement plans.</li> <li>Monitor contact queues, staffing, adherence, and SLA performance to ensure service-level targets are achieved.</li> <li>Hold Travel Consultants accountable for agreed performance, quality, productivity, and customer-experience metrics.</li> <li>Report on weekly and monthly operational performance, with a specific focus on team results, trends, risks, and improvement actions.</li> <li>Set clear expectations and create an environment in which consultants are motivated and empowered to meet or exceed the requirements of their roles.</li> <li>Partner with cross-functional teams to address errors, learning needs, process gaps, and opportunities to improve consultant performance.</li> <li>Manage escalations and customer communications, maintaining ownership of issues through resolution.</li> <li>Participate in projects that develop, guide, and implement processes designed to improve service delivery and operational results.</li> <li>Partner with Operations and Service Leadership to regularly review, update, and communicate global performance metrics and expectations.</li> <li>Ensure the team remains aligned with global organizational expectations, quality standards, processes, and performance requirements through regular team meetings and communications.</li> <li>Lead the team effectively through organizational, operational, and process changes, ensuring understanding and encouraging constructive feedback.</li> <li>Support the recruitment, selection, onboarding, and induction of Travel Consultants to maintain a consistent hiring and service standard.</li> <li>Identify and manage employee performance concerns, escalating to the People team or Senior Leadership when appropriate.</li> <li>Monitor processes, procedures, and tools that may negatively affect team productivity or the customer experience, and recommend improvements.</li> <li>Cascade relevant travel-industry, supplier, policy, and operational updates to the team in a timely and effective manner.</li> </ul> <h3><strong>What We’re Looking For</strong></h3> <ul> <li>7+ years of experience in the travel industry.</li> <li>5+ years of progressive leadership experience within a TMC or travel-industry contact-center environment, including at least 3 years at the Manager level leading consultants and/or team leads.</li> <li>Advanced knowledge of Sabre and/or Amadeus GDS, along with a strong understanding of online and offline travel operations.</li> <li>Knowledge of, or familiarity with, CRM and customer-service platforms such as Salesforce, Zendesk, or similar tools.</li> <li>Ability to quickly develop proficiency across Navan technology, supplier platforms, and operational tools.</li> <li>A customer-centric mindset, with a consistent focus on delivering excellent customer experiences.</li> <li>Strong relationship-building skills and the ability to motivate, engage, and develop team members through coaching and knowledge sharing.</li> <li>A proven track record as a people leader and mentor, with a strong understanding of travel-service requirements, customer needs, and the challenges of operating in a fast-growing company.</li> <li>Excellent written and verbal communication, interpersonal, and presentation skills.</li> <li>Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively across teams and regions.</li> <li>A data-driven approach, with the ability to use business analytics and performance insights to identify trends, understand root causes, and improve results.</li> <li>A proactive, results-oriented mindset, with strong ownership and follow-through.</li> <li>Strong organizational and prioritization skills, with the ability to use available resources effectively and deliver against agreed timelines.</li> <li>The ability to lead by example and consistently demonstrate sound judgment, accountability, and professionalism.</li> </ul><div class="content-conclusion"><p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Navan uses AI-assisted Automated Employment Decision Tool (Metaview) to assist with evaluating resumes against job qualifications for this role. All final decisions are made by human recruiters and hiring managers.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Human oversight:</strong>&nbsp;<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Metaview does not automatically reject candidates or make final hiring decisions. Our recruiters and hiring managers review all outputs and make the final hiring decision regarding every application.&nbsp;</span></p> <ul> <li> <p><strong>Your rights: </strong>If you prefer to have your application reviewed without AI assistance, you may request a human evaluation by entering your email <a href="https://my.metaview.app/applications/opt-out?organization=15dd7e883f">here</a>. Your decision to do so will not affect how your candidacy is evaluated.&nbsp;</p> </li> </ul> <p>Please refer to our<a href="https://navan.com/candidate-privacy-notice"> Candidate Privacy Notice</a> for more information about our processing of personal data, and your rights.</p></div>