Hotel & Lodging Strategist – Indirect Procurement (Corporate Travel)

About this role

Hotel & Lodging Strategist – Indirect Procurement (Corporate Travel) Description -

Position Summary

The Hotel & Lodging Strategist – Indirect Procurement (Corporate Travel) is responsible for defining, sourcing, optimizing, and governing the global hotel and lodging program as a core category within Indirect Procurement. This role serves as both the commercial category owner and strategic program lead for all lodging-related services, including transient hotel, extended stay, serviced apartments, and approved alternative accommodations. This role will also lead or participate in sourcing travel & entertainment (T&E) payment and travel management/technology solutions.

Operating at the intersection of Procurement and Corporate Travel, the Strategist ensures that lodging strategy delivers measurable financial value while maintaining strong traveler experience, policy compliance, duty of care standards, sustainability alignment, and operational efficiency. The role partners closely with Corporate Travel Operations, Finance, Global Security, HR, Legal, IT, and regional business leaders to enable a best-in-class global lodging program that supports workforce mobility and enterprise objectives.

Key Responsibilities

Global Lodging Category Strategy • Develop and own the global lodging category strategy within Indirect Procurement, aligned to enterprise financial targets and corporate travel program objectives.

• Design preferred hotel portfolio strategy across key markets, balancing global chain agreements with local property optimization.

• Define property tiering models, rate cap structures, geographic coverage, and traveler segmentation strategies (e.g., executive, project-based, extended stay).

• Continuously assess hospitality market trends, compression risks, pricing dynamics, and supply-demand conditions to inform proactive sourcing decisions.

• Evaluate and integrate alternative lodging solutions through a structured compliance, safety, and risk framework.

Strategic Sourcing & Commercial Leadership • Lead global, regional, and local hotel RFP processes in partnership with Corporate Travel Operations and key stakeholders.

• Negotiate corporate agreements, including static, dynamic, and hybrid rate structures; last-room availability; cancellation terms; and value-added amenities.

• Develop total cost of ownership (TCO) models that incorporate rate competitiveness, compliance levels, booking behavior, and demand forecasts.

• Deliver year-over-year cost savings, cost avoidance, and measurable value realization for the lodging category.

• Drive rate integrity, audit processes, and negotiated rate utilization to reduce leakage and improve compliance.

Supplier Governance & Performance Management • Establish supplier governance frameworks including KPIs, SLAs, scorecards, and quarterly business reviews (QBRs).

• Monitor supplier performance related to rate competitiveness, availability compliance, traveler satisfaction, service quality, and sustainability commitments.

• Partner with Legal and Risk to ensure contract compliance, liability protections, data privacy standards, and regulatory adherence.

• Serve as escalation point for strategic supplier issues impacting traveler experience or commercial performance.

Corporate Travel Program Alignment • Collaborate with Corporate Travel Operations to ensure seamless integration of negotiated rates into booking channels and traveler-facing platforms.

• Align lodging sourcing strategy with travel policy requirements, rate caps, and booking compliance standards.

• Support traveler communications and change management efforts related to preferred hotel programs and policy updates.

• Provide subject matter expertise for policy updates concerning lodging, extended stay, and alternative accommodations.

Financial Management & Analytics • Analyze global lodging spend, average daily rate (ADR), utilization trends, booking channel performance, and market benchmarks.

• Forecast lodging demand in partnership with Finance and FP&A to support budgeting and strategic planning.

• Develop executive-ready dashboards highlighting savings delivery, supplier performance, compliance metrics, and market insights.

• Identify consolidation, demand management, and portfolio optimization opportunities to improve program ROI.

Risk, Duty of Care & Sustainability • Integrate duty of care requirements into hotel sourcing criteria, including safety standards, property audits, and crisis response capabilities.

• Partner with Global Security to ensure property-level compliance with enterprise safety expectations.

• Incorporate sustainability objectives into supplier selection, including environmental certifications, carbon reporting capabilities, and ESG commitments.

• Support enterprise ESG reporting related to lodging spend and supplier sustainability performance.

Continuous Improvement & Innovation • Evaluate emerging lodging distribution models, direct booking integrations, and digital rate optimization tools.

• Champion traveler experience enhancements including loyalty alignment, digital check-in capabilities, amenity optimization, and extended stay solutions.

• Drive continuous improvement initiatives based on traveler feedback, supplier innovation, and performance analytics.

• Identify automation opportunities to improve sourcing efficiency, rate audits, and reporting accuracy.

Qualifications

Required • Bachelor’s degree in Business, Supply Chain, Hospitality, Travel Management, or related field.

• 8–12+ years of experience in strategic sourcing, category management, corporate lodging procurement, or hotel program management.

• Deep expertise in hotel RFP processes, global chain negotiations, rate modeling (static and dynamic), ADR benchmarking, and lodging compliance frameworks.

• Demonstrated success delivering measurable cost savings and supplier performance improvements.

• Strong analytical and financial modeling capability.

• Exper

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