Travel Operations Lead

About the Team 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. About the Role 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. What we're looking for: We are looking for someone who understands the nuance of the travel industry and can operate at scale while continuously improving the system. This person will be hands-on in executive travel support and will own the policy, operation, supplier relationships, and support model that enable safe, efficient, and high-quality travel. The right person will bring strong operational judgment, high attention to detail, and the ability to adjust policies, programs, and tools as OpenAI scales. They will also bring a practical vision for AI and agentic enablement across the travel support ecosystem, knowing where AI can reduce manual work, where human review matters, and how to build trust in new ways of working. 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