Travel & Expense Manager

Scale AI Scale AI · Data AI · Mexico City, Mexico · CFO Team

This role manages the global travel and expense program, including strategy, supplier negotiation, policy enforcement, system ownership, and financial reporting. It involves process optimization and acting as a Product Owner for travel technologies.

What you'd actually do

  1. Design and execute the global travel category strategy, leading end-to-end supplier selection (RFP), onboarding, and lifecycle management for airlines, hotels, and ground transportation.
  2. Architect high-leverage negotiation strategies to secure preferential rates and corporate benefits, ensuring maximum ROI on the company’s annual travel spend.
  3. Champion "Preferred Supplier" adoption through creating policies, data-driven influence and internal marketing, optimizing corporate leverage and volume-based discounts.
  4. Govern the global Travel & Expense (T&E) ecosystem, overseeing corporate credit card programs and employee reimbursements to ensure 100% alignment with fiscal policy and tax compliance.
  5. Execute rigorous internal controls and audits, identifying leakage or non-compliant spending patterns and implementing corrective action plans.
  6. Pioneer process optimization by auditing existing workflows and designing automated, scalable solutions that reduce friction for the traveler while increasing back-office efficiency.
  7. Serve as the Functional Product Owner for travel-related technologies (e.g., Navan, Brex, etc), managing system integrations, troubleshooting technical hurdles, and leading future-state implementations.
  8. Synthesize T&E data into actionable insights, delivering ad-hoc analysis and executive reporting that informs budgetary decisions and policy shifts.

Skills

Required

  • Minimum 4 years of Travel, AP and/or accounting experience.
  • Experience with OBT software (Navan, Spotnana, Egencia, etc).
  • Experience with employee expenses systems: Netsuite, Coupa, Brex or other major systems.
  • Bachelor’s degree in Accounting/Finance, or related degree.
  • Strong understanding of full global travel industry.
  • Excellent organizational skills and ability to handle multiple priorities within deadlines.
  • Excellent AI, problem-solving skills and high level of attention to detail.
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English.
  • Proficient knowledge of Microsoft Excel.
  • Remote based in México.

Nice to have

  • Experience with S2P software (Brex, Zip, LevelPath and/or Navan).
  • Prior experience at a fast growing start-up or public company.
  • Passion for the AI industry.

What the JD emphasized

  • roll up your sleeves and pivot between high-level vendor negotiations and hands-on system troubleshooting and also doing tactical work
  • Functional Product Owner
  • travel-related technologies
  • system integrations
  • troubleshooting technical hurdles
  • future-state implementations
  • Excellent AI, problem-solving skills