Description
The Global Travel Operations Manager serves as the operational owner of Gilead’s Global Travel Program, with primary responsibility for day-to-day program oversight, supplier performance management, policy execution, and user experience. This role partners closely with Indirect Procurement Category Leaders, Travel Management Company (TMC), internal stakeholders, and travel suppliers to ensure consistent, compliant, and efficient travel operations across the enterprise.
The successful candidate will bring deep experience managing corporate travel programs, with a proven ability to execute operationally while contributing to broader program strategy. They must be comfortable navigating complex, evolving environments; influencing stakeholders without direct authority; and collaborating across functions. The role requires strong communication skills and the ability to engage effectively with senior leaders in a dynamic setting.
Key Responsibilities:
Global Travel Program Operations
1. Manage the operational execution of Gilead’s global corporate travel program, ensuring alignment with established policies, controls, and governance frameworks.
2. Lead day-to-day management of Travel Management Company (TMC) relationship, including service delivery oversight, issue resolution, and escalation management.
3. Serve as the primary operational point of contact for the TMC and key travel service providers.
4. Partner with Procurement Category Management to ensure operational execution aligns with contracted terms, sourcing strategies, and supplier frameworks.
5. Ensure consistent travel program delivery across regions, geographies, and business units.
6. Participate in the development of the travel category strategy and technology roadmap, providing operational input to inform prioritization, sequencing, and implementation planning.
7. Lead the implementation of strategic initiatives to optimize the corporate travel program, leveraging industry best practices, market insights, and Gilead’s business needs to drive operational efficiency, compliance, and traveler experience.
8. Partner with Corporate Security and Compliance teams to support traveler safety, high-risk country travel approvals, and regulatory requirements.
9. Collaborate closely with Procurement, Meetings & Events, Finance, IT, Security, and business stakeholders to ensure seamless integration across related programs.
10. Manage day-to-day operations of the EU Posted Workers Directive (PWD) process, coordinating with agencies and internal stakeholders to support timely registrations and resolve issues in accordance with compliance requirements.
11. Support ongoing PWD compliance and process execution, including monitoring ticket intake and follow-up, maintaining documentation, safeguarding sensitive data, and escalating risks.
12. Establish and monitor key performance metrics, maintaining dashboards to ensure transparency, visibility, and adoption of travel program initiatives across the organization.
Basic Qualifications
13. Bachelor’s degree required, advanced degree preferred
14. Signigicant experience in corporate travel management, travel operations, procurement operations, or supplier program management
Preferred Qualifications
15. Direct experience managing a global travel program or large-scale travel operations environment
16. Proven experience working with a TMC and global travel suppliers
17. Strong understanding of travel policies, compliance requirements, and traveler risk management
18. Demonstrated ability to manage multiple workstreams simultaneously in a global organization
19. Strong stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence and resolve issues without formal authority
20. Experience leveraging data and reporting to drive operational decisions and continuous improvement
Leadership Competencies
21. Results-oriented with strong execution discipline
22. High attention to detail
23. Strong communication with the ability to translate complexity into clear guidance
24. Collaborative, inclusive, and solutions-driven
Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)
It is the policy of Gilead Sciences, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates (collectively "Gilead" or the "Company") to recruit select and employ the most qualified persons available for positions throughout the Company. Except if otherwise provided by applicable law, all employment actions relating to issues such as compensation, benefits, transfers, layoffs, returns from layoffs, company-sponsored training, education assistance, social and recreational programs are administered on a non-discriminatory basis (i.e. without regard to protected characteristics or prohibited grounds, which may include an individual’s gender, race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, creed, physical or mental disability, marital status, sexual orientation, medical condition, veteran status, and age, unless such protection is prohibited by federal, state, municipal, provincial, local or other applicable laws). Gilead also prohibits discrimination based on any other characteristics protected by applicable laws.
For Current Gilead Employees and Contractors:
Please apply via the Internal Career Opportunities portal in Workday.