Senior Manager, Strategy & Innovation

Navan is the all-in-one super app that makes travel and expense easy so you can focus on being there, not getting there. As we scale our global footprint, we are revolutionizing not just corporate travel, but workforce management.

The Resource Orchestration Center (ROC) is the proactive, AI-powered "Enterprise Brain" of our 1,000-agent, 24/7 global travel operation. We rely on an advanced technology stack—including Genesys Cloud, Snowflake data lakes, ThoughtSpot, and AI-driven analytics—to automate administrative tasks and empower our human talent. We don't just report on what happened; we engineer outcomes to guarantee our elite service level agreements (SLAs) for our global travelers.

As the Senior Manager, Strategy & Innovation, you sit at the critical intersection of long-term service capacity planning, strategic project management, and internal operational excellence. Moving beyond standard workforce management, this role is designed for a visionary leader who will build and guide a global team consisting of Capacity Strategists and Process Improvement Leads.

You will partner directly with Operations and Product leaders to build precise service agent capacity models, drive large-scale travel support projects, and continuously map and optimize the internal workflows of the ROC team itself. Your goal is to ensure the ROC operates as a lean, exception-based intelligence hub that seamlessly supports our global travel enterprise.

What You’ll Do:

• Project Management & Cross-Functional Partnering
• Direct end-to-end project management for major ROC initiatives, new service offering deployments, Crisis Management, and strategic overhauls.
• Serve as the liaison to Customer Experience, Sales, and Account Management, translating complex workforce capacity data into actionable travel business intelligence.
• Drive alignment across departments during new customer launches and travel market expansions to ensure the ROC is operationally ready to support the business.
• Service Capacity Strategy & Workforce Architecture
• Lead a team of Capacity Strategists to build comprehensive service agent capacity plans based on seasonal travel trends.
• Master the complex mathematics of agent staffing by accurately modeling Required FTE vs. Productive FTE, factoring in detailed multi-variable shrinkage to ensure the agents are always appropriately staffed.
• Design and optimize the overarching portfolio management strategy, ensuring that agent tiers (Core, Designated, Dedicated, Specialty Travel) are dynamically planned for to meet shifting business priorities.
• Internal ROC Process Optimization & Leadership
• Lead and develop a team of Process Improvement Leads (USA) entirely dedicated to optimizing the internal workflows, tools, and daily operating procedures of the ROC team.
• Execute detailed journey mapping for ROC analysts to identify bottlenecks, eliminate administrative waste, and establish Lean/Six Sigma methodologies within our own department.
• Oversee root-cause analysis (RCA) initiatives for internal operational misses, ensuring that systemic fixes are implemented to improve the ROC's efficiency and accuracy in supporting the travel network.
• AI Ideation & Technology Partnership
• Identify internal operational friction points within the ROC and partner closely with our specialized WFM technology team to hand off requirements for new AI and automation solutions.
• Serve as a key voice in cross-functional discussions on how automation and AI integration can enhance the experience for frontline travel agents, as well as eliminate manual effort for the ROC analysts and planners.
• Champion the transition to a fully "exception-based" Command Center by ensuring ROC business needs drive the technology roadmap (e.g., Snowflake data ingestion, ThoughtSpot applications).

What We’re Looking For:

• Experience: 7+ years of progressive leadership experience in Operations Strategy, Project Management, and/or Advanced Workforce Management.
• Project & Process Management: Strong background in leading complex, cross-functional projects and journey-mapping internal department workflows. PMP or Agile/Scrum certification is a strong plus.
• Communication & Influence: Elite executive storytelling skills, with the ability to build consensus across VP-level stakeholders in disparate departments.
• Technology Partnership: Strong ability to bridge the gap between ROC business operations and technical engineering teams. Understanding of modern data architectures (Snowflake) and BI/AI tools (ThoughtSpot, Power BI) to effectively collaborate on tech roadmaps.
• Advanced Capacity Modeling: Deep understanding of short and long term forecasting and service agent capacity planning, multi-variable shrinkage modeling, and immediate to long term hiring plan architecture.
• Education: Bachelor's degree in Business, Industrial Engineering, Statistics, or a related field. MBA or advanced degree is highly preferred.
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