Senior Travel Procurement Analyst

Here at Appian, our values of Intensity and Excellence define who we are. We set high standards and live up to them, ensuring that everything we do is done with care and quality. We approach every challenge with ambition and commitment, holding ourselves and each other accountable to achieve the best results. When you join Appian, you’ll be part of a passionate team dedicated to accomplishing hard things, together. We are seeking an autonomous, hands-on Senior Procurement Business Analyst to join our corporate Procurement team. With corporate travel as the primary focus, this high-accountability role completely owns Appian's global travel program from both a data and operational standpoint. The successful candidate will balance day-to-day traveler support with structured procurement administration, directly assisting with travel contracts and executing team-level Purchase Order (PO) and requisition cycles. Over the long-term, this position pairs continuous process improvement with analytical support, partnering with the Director of Procurement on strategic tool evaluations and future roadmap design. This role is based at our HQ in McLean, VA. Appian was built on a culture of in-person collaboration, which we believe is a key driver of our mission to be the best. Employees hired for this position are expected to be in the office 5 days a week to foster that culture and ensure we continue to thrive through shared ideas and teamwork. We believe being in the office provides more opportunities to come together and celebrate working with the exceptional people across Appian. Key Responsibilities Travel Operations & Support: Serve as the primary operational point of contact for day-to-day global travel inquiries, providing high-quality support and handling travel policy exceptions or reservation escalations with sound judgment. Program & Vendor Management: Maintain commercial ownership of our Travel Management Program, tracking vendor performance against service level agreements (SLAs) and auditing global program data. PO Lifecycle & Procurement Support: Support broader Procurement operations by creating, routing, and managing Purchase Orders (POs) and requisitions for team-level requirements, while verifying billing and budget line reconciliation. Direct Supplier Negotiations: Lead direct commercial sourcing initiatives and negotiate competitive corporate contracts and rates directly with travel suppliers, including major hotels, airlines, and car rental agencies. Process Efficiency & Roadmap Strategy: Evaluate current travel workflows and booking platforms to identify inefficiencies; partner with leadership to map system optimization paths and support strategic assessments for our future technology roadmap. Data Analytics & Reporting: Independently extract, clean, and convert travel platform data into clear procurement reports, highlighting spend patterns, booking behavior, and policy leakage for leadership analysis. Onboarding Enablement & Compliance: Support regular traveler readiness by updating internal user documentation, managing duty of care tracking configurations, and delivering travel program updates & training as requested. Qualifications Education & Certifications: Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain, Finance, Procurement, or a related quantitative field preferred; GBTA/GTP certification is a plus. Experience: 5+ years of corporate travel procurement, business analysis, or sourcing operations experience managing multi-country programs. Systems Expertise: Administrative familiarity across modern corporate travel management platforms and booking tools. Experience with Navan is a plus, but background with other prominent industry networks (such as SAP Concur, Amex GBT/Neo, Egencia, BCD Travel, or Corporate Travel Management) is highly valued. Direct Contract Negotiation Skills: Proven experience independently executing end-to-end commercial negotiations and contract sourcing directly with corporate hotels, airlines