Category Manager - Travel

Category Manager - Travel

This is a fully remote role - must be based in USA

About the Team

The Procurement team at College Board is a group of 10 highly skilled professionals who support the purchasing needs of all divisions across the organization. Our category coverage is extensive and encompasses a wide range of areas such as contingent workforce, conferences, and events, building and construction projects, enterprise software systems, contact centers, custom consulting engagements, and cloud services. The category managers work directly with leaders from all parts of the business to help define and deliver College Board products and services. College Board is transforming its business at a rapid pace and the procurement team plays a crucial role in shaping and driving this change.

About the Opportunity

As our Category Manager - Travel, you will execute the strategic sourcing, vendor relationship, and contract management activities for the Advanced Placement (AP) program's national events (e.g. reader gathering). You will implement innovative sourcing strategies, engage in comprehensive industry and supplier research, and manage the bidding and RFP process. You will oversee site and vendor selection, lead contract negotiations and supplier performance management activities to secure competitive process and favorable terms. You will collaborate closely with College Board Program and Service units to competitively source products and services that align with both mission and financial objectives. Your strategic and proactive mindset and operational excellence will be key driver of success in this role.

In this role, you will:

Collaborate with business partners to drive value (40%)

• Work within the procurement organization to provide dedicated support to the AP program specifically focused on large event site management

• Partner with business unit stakeholders to select vendors and determine work streams where price competition would be beneficial and coordinate RFI’s, RFP’s and RFQ’s

• Bring industry benchmarks, expertise, knowledge of trends, consultant, and other third-party data to bear in preparation for vendor selection and negotiation

Execute agreements and manage vendors (40%)

• Lead vendor negotiations to ensure that College Board contracts at competitive prices and favorable terms with an emphasis on convention centers, hotels, and catering

• Coordinate with legal, governance, risk & compliance and College Board business units for contract review and negotiation

• Anticipate and manage possible contingencies and dependencies, ensuring proactive planning and real-time analytical thinking during intense periods of delivery

• Own and manage key vendor relationships for appropriate issue escalation Work with vendors to resolve performance and to bring about improvements where needed

Improve our support and performance (20%)

• Utilize P2P tools like Workday, Concur and Strategic Sourcing to establish and help improve operational processes from project intake to invoice approvals

• Practice continual improvement to strengthen the value proposition for internal clients and improve key performance as measured by KPIs that are important to key constituents

• Contribute to analyzing AP Reading expenses to identify and generate cost savings

• Absorb previously outsourced work, ensuring a seamless transition, and subsequently optimizing processes to generate cost savings

About You

You have:

• 7+ years of procurement related experience and expertise in evaluating contractual terms and conditions

• Strong industry experience negotiating and contracting with convention centers, hotels, airlines, catering, travel management companies and other vendor types necessary for large scale meetings and conferences

• Superior quantitative and qualitative analytical skills

• Proven track record of negotiating large multi-year contracts and negotiating with various vendors essential for large-scale events

• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to foster positive working relationships at all organizational levels.

• Initiative and an ability to work in a self-directed environment

• Experience with contract management, P2P systems, and tools

• A bachelor's degree in business, management, finance, supply chain management or related work experience preferred

• Proficient with Microsoft Office (MS Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint)

• Ability to travel 4-6 times a year

• You must be authorized to work in the US

About Our Process 

• Application review will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled

• While the hiring process may vary, it generally includes resume and application submission, recruiter phone screen, hiring manager interview, performance exercise and/or panel interview, and reference checks. This is an approximately 8-week process

About Our Benefits and Compensation

College Board offers a competitive benefits and compensation program that attracts top talent looking to make a difference in education. As a self-sustaining non-profit, we believe in compensating employees equitably in relation to each other, their qualifications, their impact, and the relevant market.

The hiring range for a new employee in this position is $76,000 to $125,000. College Board differentiates salaries by location so where you live will narrow the portion of this range in which you can expect a salary.

Your salary will be carefully determined based on your location, relevant experience, the external labor market, and the pay of College Board employees in similar roles. College Board strives to provide our best offer up front based on this criteria.

Your salary is only one part of all that College Board offers, including but not limited to:

• A comprehensive package designed to support the well-being of employees and their families and promote education. Our robust benefits package includes health, dental, and vision insurance, generous paid time off, paid parental leave, fertility benefits, pet insurance, tuition assistance, retirement benefits, and more

• Recognition of exceptional performance through annual bonuses, salary growth over time through market increases, and opportunities for merit raises and promotions based on increased scope of responsibility

• A job that matters, a team that cares, and a place to learn, innovate and thrive

You can expect to have transparent conversations about benefits and compensation with our recruiters throughout your application process.