Lead - Travel Services

About the Company

Petrofac is an international service provider focused on the energy sector, working with a wide range of major energy clients around the world. The company delivers end-to-end support for energy infrastructure by designing, building, managing, and maintaining assets across the full project lifecycle, using different commercial models to suit client needs.

Role Overview

This position is responsible for overseeing and improving the organisation’s travel programme across multiple locations. The role is centred on controlling travel costs, maintaining policy compliance, managing supplier performance, safeguarding travellers, and ensuring reliable service delivery. It also involves providing leadership with timely, analytics-based insights and steering strategic travel initiatives that support operational, financial, and duty-of-care goals.

Key Responsibilities

The role covers strategy, sourcing, operations, governance, systems, stakeholder coordination, global rollout, and travel risk management.

• Continuously improve corporate travel programmes and drive cost efficiency across multiple countries.
• Create, roll out, and refine travel policies, operating processes, and programme frameworks.
• Assess business demands, operational issues, and market opportunities, then recommend scalable travel solutions.
• Lead travel initiatives that support commercial and organisational priorities.
• Run global tender processes for Travel Management Companies and other travel service providers.
• Negotiate and administer agreements with airlines, hotels, car rental providers, and other travel vendors.
• Track vendor performance, service quality, and SLA adherence.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with TMCs and global travel suppliers.
• Oversee project and operational travel, including mobilisation, rotation, demobilisation, and complex international movements.
• Handle urgent and specialised travel needs such as offshore crew changes, emergency trips, and site logistics.
• Coordinate hotel stays, furnished apartment accommodation, meetings, and event-related travel services.
• Set up governance controls such as approval flows, audit checks, and exception handling.
• Ensure travel arrangements meet Finance, HR, and project cost-control expectations.
• Implement policy updates and ensure they are embedded into systems and TMC workflows.
• Maintain compliance with company travel rules and applicable regulatory requirements.
• Own and improve travel systems and booking tools, including links with HR and ERP platforms.
• Increase automation, data quality, and reporting capability.
• Build dashboards and KPIs such as trip cost, advance booking compliance, and savings tracking.
• Deliver insights that support budgeting, forecasting, and management decisions.
• Work closely with HR, Finance, Procurement, and Project teams to align travel strategy with business needs.
• Serve as the main escalation contact for travel issues and ensure timely resolution.
• Support senior leadership with analysis, recommendations, and programme updates.
• Lead travel programme deployment in new countries and operating locations.
• Coordinate onboarding and implementation of TMCs and vendors in new markets.
• Support travel risk management and duty-of-care processes.
• Maintain traveller visibility, risk awareness, and emergency response readiness.

Qualifications and Experience

The ideal candidate should hold a university degree, a relevant travel management qualification, or a diploma. A minimum of 5 years of experience in travel management is required, along with strong knowledge of international travel industry trends and standard tools/systems used in the sector.

Skills and Attributes

The role calls for a professional who can identify process gaps and recommend improvements, particularly through technology-driven solutions. A strong record of meeting cost-reduction goals is important, as is the ability to optimise spend with airlines, hotels, and car vendors. The successful candidate should be customer-focused, adaptable in a fast-changing environment, a confident negotiator, and a strong relationship builder. Working knowledge of IT requirements is needed to help connect systems such as HRMS, ERP, and TMC databases. A genuine interest in technology and self-service tools is also essential.

Additional Information

Location: Sharjah, Sharjah Emirate, United Arab Emirates.

The role is based onsite and is offered on a full-time basis.

No stipend or salary amount was specified in the source.