Manager Travel & Expense (Hybrid-Seattle, WA)

Overview 

We are looking for a Manager, Travel & Expense (T&E) to elevate our corporate travel and expense programs through smart strategy, strong supplier partnerships, and a customer-first approach.

In this role, you’ll own the end-to-end travel program—shaping supplier strategy and negotiations, guiding policy interpretation and compliance, and strengthening duty of care and risk mitigation. You’ll lead a high-impact portfolio that includes our travel management company (TMC), corporate card program, airlines, hotels, ground transportation, and expense tooling—using data and stakeholder partnerships to deliver savings, seamless experiences, and reliable execution for travel, meetings, and offsites.

You’ll be a visible leader across the company—balancing traveler experience, financial stewardship, and operational excellence while influencing how Nordstrom teams travel and spend. 

**This role is Hybrid- downtown Seattle, WA and does require you to be in office 4 days per week. 

A day in the life…. 

• Collaborate with business unit leaders and cross functional partners to develop and maintain workforce analytics, building a bridge between systems and ensuring a clear view of our headcount, labor costs, vacancy rates, and organizational structures. 

• Lead a team of three and own Nordstrom’s corporate travel and expense programs, including preferred suppliers, the TMC, the expense platform, and corporate card programs. 

• Drive process improvements that simplify travel and expense, increase efficiency, and improve service quality. 

• Continuously evolve the program to improve cost effectiveness, unlock savings opportunities, and enhance employee satisfaction—staying current on travel, expense, and meetings industry trends and best practices. 

• Stay updated with industry trends and best practices in travel, expense and meeting management 

• Serve as the primary point of contact for travel program needs; partner with business leaders and executive travelers to communicate policy updates, resolve issues, and support supplier financial reconciliation. 

• Build and deliver annual category strategies for travel, expense, and offsite meeting/event spend; partner with stakeholders to develop a 1–5 year sourcing roadmap. 

• Use competitive sourcing approaches to optimize savings and business value; negotiate contracts and commercial terms directly with suppliers in partnership with the sourcing team. 

• Manage strategic supplier relationships, including the TMC and other key travel category partners. 

• Monitor supplier and traveler KPIs, and lead remediation for recurring performance issues. 

• Own contract management activities, including amendments, renewals/expiration tracking, and maintenance of supporting documentation. 

• Conduct regular spend analysis to identify trends and opportunities by category, subcategory, business unit, and geography. 

• Leverage internal and external resources to stay current on relevant industry and travel category trends. 

• Deliver reporting on travel expenses, booking patterns, and compliance metrics; translate insights into cost savings and improved processes. 

• Build strong cross-functional relationships and drive engagement for travel, expense reimbursement, corporate credit card, and offsite meeting and event policies. 

You’ve got this if you have…. 

• 5+ years of experience in corporate travel management and/or travel procurement. 

• 5+ years’ experience with Global Travel and/or Meetings & Events management 

• 5+ years’ experience with Supplier Management 

• 5+ years’ experience with Analysis and reporting 

• 5+ years managing outside service providers. 

• 5+ years people management 

• Proven track record of achieving travel category savings via sourcing, demand management and / or policy compliance  

• Experience with the design and implementation of corporate travel programs or continuous improvement initiatives 

• Experience developing and operationalizing global category strategies for airfare, hotels, rental car or ride share programs or other relevant travel categories 

• Proficiency in analyzing travel data to identify cost-saving opportunities and trends 

• Proficiency in travel and expense-related systems (e.g. Concur) 

• Demonstrated success in complex project management, including stakeholder engagement and change management