Global Travel & Events Manager

Our client is an international organization operating across multiple markets and currently strengthening its global procurement capabilities to support an increasingly connected and mobile workforce.

This highly visible role offers the opportunity to shape the strategy, governance and supplier ecosystem behind corporate travel, meetings, events and employee engagement initiatives on a global scale.

Working closely with senior leadership, you will define the long-term vision for travel and events procurement, transforming fragmented activities into a globally aligned, data-driven and strategically managed function.

What You Will Own

You will act as the global category leader responsible for:

• Defining and executing the worldwide sourcing strategy for travel, meetings, conferences, accommodation, mobility and event-related services.
• Building and managing a high-performing supplier ecosystem capable of supporting business growth across multiple regions.
• Creating governance frameworks that balance employee experience, operational efficiency and financial discipline.
• Driving procurement value through strategic negotiations, supplier consolidation and continuous optimisation initiatives.
• Introducing innovative technologies, automation and data-driven decision-making across the category.
• Embedding sustainability and responsible procurement principles into sourcing decisions and supplier selection.
• Providing executive-level visibility on category performance, risk exposure and commercial opportunities.
• Leading, coaching and developing a geographically dispersed team, fostering collaboration, capability building and a culture of continuous improvement and high performance.

Key Priorities

• Harmonise travel and event procurement practices across different countries and business units.
• Strengthen relationships with strategic global suppliers while ensuring consistent service quality and commercial competitiveness.
• Improve visibility of spend, supplier performance and category effectiveness through robust analytics and reporting.
• Enhance traveller and attendee experience while maintaining strong cost control and governance.
• Identify opportunities to leverage digital solutions, automation and AI to simplify processes and improve decision-making.
• Act as a trusted advisor to senior stakeholders on all matters related to travel, meetings and events procurement.
• Lead, motivate and develop teams in an international and multicultural environment, ensuring alignment with business objectives and fostering talent development.

What Will Make You Successful

• 8+ years of experience in Procurement, Strategic Sourcing, Corporate Travel, Events Management or related categories within international environments.
• Proven experience managing global or regional travel and events categories in multinational organizations.
• Strong track record negotiating complex agreements with both local and international suppliers.
• Proven experience managing significant budgets and delivering measurable cost savings and procurement value.
• Previous experience leading, coaching and developing teams.
• Strong commercial acumen combined with the ability to influence senior stakeholders.
• A data-driven mindset with experience using analytics to support business decisions.
• Familiarity with digital procurement tools, travel technologies, automation and AI-enabled solutions.
• Place of residence: Madrid

Education & Languages

• Bachelor's degree.
• MBA, Master's degree or professional certifications in Procurement or Strategic Sourcing are considered an advantage.
• Fluent English and Spanish.
• Additional languages will be valued.