Travel Manager

Role overview

The Travel Manager will take full ownership of John Paul Construction’s travel and expense programme, making sure it operates in line with the company’s Travel & Expense Management Policy. This role is focused on governance, administration, compliance, and ongoing improvement, while also ensuring employees travelling across multiple construction regions receive practical support. The position serves as the main owner of the Perk platform, covering bookings, virtual debit cards, approvals, supplier management, reporting, and policy coordination in close partnership with Finance and senior leadership.

Travel platform and governance

• Act as the main contact for Perk and maintain an active working relationship with the Account Manager through bi-weekly governance and performance discussions.
• Keep the Perk system configured to match the approved Travel & Expense Policy.
• Ensure the platform is set up for all air, rail, hotel, and car hire bookings.
• Maintain the correct policy rules, approval flows, and booking restrictions within the system.
• Manage onboarding and offboarding for business travellers and ensure employee changes are reflected promptly.

Policy ownership and compliance

• Own the Travel & Expense Management Policy and ensure it remains embedded in Perk.
• Update policy guidance whenever business, regulatory, or operational needs change.
• Keep the policy wording, system setup, and actual booking activity aligned.
• Track compliance with mandatory platform use, approval requirements, booking lead times, class-of-travel rules, accommodation limits, and non-reimbursable expenses.
• Spot policy breaches or unusual activity and escalate them when needed, with Finance support.

Employee support and day-to-day travel operations

• Serve as the first contact for travel questions covering bookings, amendments, cancellations, and emergency travel.
• Provide practical, hands-on help to employees who need assistance arranging travel.
• Coordinate group bookings, long or short stays, and arrangements that cannot be completed through the Perk platform.
• Liaise directly with hotels where required.
• Ensure last-minute or urgent travel follows the correct notification and approval process.

Accommodation and supplier management

• Negotiate and maintain corporate hotel agreements across all active regions.
• Issue hotel RFPs ahead of site mobilisation to support availability, cost control, and policy compliance.
• Maintain the preferred hotel list and keep rates within the approved hotel rate guidelines.
• Manage ongoing supplier relationships, monitoring service standards, pricing, and adherence to agreed terms.
• Make sure preferred hotels are correctly configured and promoted inside the Perk platform.

Rewards, finance, and reporting

• Own the JPC Corporate Rewards Programme where applicable and work to maximise the benefit to the company.
• Act as administrator for any company-wide travel or accommodation rewards arrangements managed by JPC.
• Work with Perk, Finance, and preferred suppliers to monitor and report benefits from the corporate rewards programme.
• Review bi-weekly Perk invoices before approval, checking accuracy, policy compliance, and correct allocation.
• Partner with Finance to produce regular reporting on travel spend, trends, virtual card usage, and compliance.
• Identify savings opportunities, risk areas, and control issues, and support audits and internal controls.
• Analyse travel data to identify inefficiencies, supplier performance concerns, and non-compliant behaviour.

Virtual debit card administration

• Manage the Perk virtual debit card programme and ensure it is used appropriately in line with policy.
• Administer card access, spending limits, and controls with Finance.
• Monitor card activity and follow up on declined transactions, discrepancies, or unusual spending patterns.
• Work with Perk and Finance to resolve issues and support reconciliation, audit, and reporting needs.

Skills and experience

The ideal candidate will have practical experience in travel management, including booking systems, approvals, and reporting. They should also have experience with travel policy governance and compliance, along with strong commercial awareness and negotiation capability, especially with hotels and accommodation providers. The role requires excellent attention to detail, a strong control mindset, and the confidence to work with site teams, Finance, and senior leadership.

Qualifications

A qualification in Travel Management, Business Administration, Finance, or a related subject is preferred but not essential. Experience working within Finance-led travel and expense frameworks is advantageous, as is exposure to audits or internal control reviews.

Additional information

This position is based in Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland and is a full-time, onsite role.