Manager, Business Operations, Specialty Travel & Events

About the Role

The Business Operations team solves the Specialty Travel & Events team's most critical, emergent challenges across business, product, and operations. As a Manager-level individual contributor, you will have the unique opportunity to scope, design, and drive high-impact initiatives that support business growth, optimization, and stability.

You are someone who can look at a complex business challenge, map out the connections between people, processes and tools, and help design a path forward. You aren't just managing projects; you are evaluating how our business runs, leveraging data to challenge assumptions, and driving the hands-on execution of some of our most important initiatives.

What You Will Do

• Drive Strategic Initiatives: Execute on high-impact, 0-to-1 operational initiatives end-to-end. Investigate complex, ambiguous problems, develop rigorous work plans, and drive day-to-day execution.

• Solve Complex Problems: Identify operational bottlenecks and help design scalable processes that allow cross-functional teams (Sales, Operations, Data Analytics, Finance, etc.) to work together seamlessly.
• Synthesize Data into Strategy: Dig into raw business data (using Excel, SQL, or other systems) to reveal patterns and truths behind operational challenges. Translate these findings into clear, actionable recommendations for leadership and cross-functional partners.
• Cross-Functional Influence: Build trusted partnerships across teams, navigating obstacles with empathy to drive alignment across competing priorities, often without direct authority.
• Unblock and Accelerate: Anticipate technical bottlenecks, call out trade-offs between business desires and constraints, and keep project teams aligned and moving forward.
• Manage Global Programs: Drive multi-phased initiatives across regions, establishing working groups and cross-functional alignment across teams.

What We’re Looking For

• Relevant experience: 5+ years of experience in business operations, program management, or strategy within a fast-paced environment (BA/BS degree or equivalent experience).
• Analytical fluency: Highly proficient in Excel/Google Sheets and comfortable using SQL to query databases, extract insights from messy data, and build narratives that drive business decisions.
• Systems thinker: You intuitively see how workflows and tech stacks interconnect, preferring to build scalable, long-term processes rather than temporary fixes.
• Influence without authority: A proven track record of managing cross-functional relationships (Sales, Finance, Data), building alignment, and driving results across competing priorities.
• High momentum & ownership: You approach complex, ambiguous problems with a "beginner's mind," move decisively to avoid analysis paralysis, and take clear ownership of end-to-end execution.

Bonus Points

• Experience at a travel management company or roles in event planning or supplier/vendor management.
• Background in Product Operations or Business Systems in high-growth environments.

Navan uses AI-assisted Automated Employment Decision Tool (Metaview) to assist with evaluating resumes against job qualifications for this role. All final decisions are made by human recruiters and hiring managers. 

Human oversight: Metaview does not automatically reject candidates or make final hiring decisions. Our recruiters and hiring managers review all outputs and make the final hiring decision regarding every application. 

• Your rights: If you prefer to have your application reviewed without AI assistance, you may request a human evaluation by entering your email here. Your decision to do so will not affect how your candidacy is evaluated. 

Please refer to our Candidate Privacy Notice for more information about our processing of personal data, and your rights.