Director, Global Training - Corporate Travel Operations (US or UK virtual)

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Director, Global Training & Enablement is a strategic leader responsible for designing, building, and scaling a unified global training model that supports Direct Travel's "Everyone Is a VIP" operating vision. This role owns the end-to-end training function—from curriculum development through delivery, certification, and continuous improvement—ensuring advisors across all regions, service locations, and delivery partners deliver world-class service on the Avenir platform at enterprise scale.

This position blends strategic program ownership with hands-on team leadership, driving consistency, operational excellence, and measurable service impact across all geographies and service lines.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Global Training Strategy & Unified Model Leadership

• Own and execute the five-pillar global training model: Unified Team, Unified Curriculum, Unified Intake, Unified Delivery, and Unified Tracking
• Establish and lead the Global Enterprise Training Team (HUB), implementing a train-the-trainer model across all service locations and delivery teams
• Define and maintain one mandatory core curriculum path for every advisor role globally, with role-based elective catalogs
• Ensure training aligns with COO strategic priorities: "Everyone Is a VIP," margin expansion, and scalable service delivery without proportional headcount growth
• Build Avenir platform-specific training covering conversational booking, disruption management, trip queries, advisor-in-platform workflows, and exception management
• Create global service standards while enabling market-specific delivery and localization (language, currency, regulations, cultural nuance)

1. Training Team Leadership & Development

• Lead, mentor, and develop a global team of certified Enterprise Trainers across multiple regions and time zones
• Establish and operationalize trainer certification program with recertification cycles tied to platform releases and curriculum updates
• Provide weekly team updates, performance feedback, and coaching on training effectiveness and learner outcomes
• Build train-the-trainer capability across all service locations to scale training delivery without proportional cost growth
• Establish a regular trainer alignment cadence across all locations to ensure consistency, share best practices, and cascade product/platform changes
• Hold trainers accountable to learner feedback scores and training effectiveness metrics

1. Avenir & Platform-Specific Curriculum Development

• Design and maintain Avenir-focused training modules covering:
• Agentic AI workflows and exception management
• Conversational booking and trip management via chat, SMS, WhatsApp, and voice
• Predictive disruption signals and proactive rebooking
• Dynamic policy compliance and automated approvals
• Profile depth and traveler intent anticipation
• One-platform orchestration (air, hotel, rail, car, expense, payments, risk, comms)
• Create training for AI-assisted tools and automation
• Ensure advisors understand their role as Experience Managers, not transaction processors—focusing on exceptions, nuance, and high-value client interactions
• Develop change management training for platform releases, new AI capabilities, and policy/workflow updates

1. Service Delivery Model Enablement & Transition Readiness

• Lead onboarding readiness for work transitions and service delivery model changes, ensuring advisors in all locations are equipped to handle Core, Avenir, and GDS servicing
• Develop scalable, localized training that maintains global standards while reflecting local market requirements, regulations, and cultural context
• Support new market and location launches with training frameworks adaptable across all regions and markets
• Partner with Operations leadership to align training timelines with capacity plans and work transition schedules
• Build follow-the-sun training support that scales with the service footprint, ensuring advisors in every time zone can access to learning resources and trainer guidance

1. Unified Intake, Delivery & Tracking

• Establish one standard global training request form auto-routed to certified trainers with defined SLAs and lead times
• Implement single global Learning Management System (LMS) with real-time dashboards tracking:
• Learner progress, compliance, and pass/fail reporting
• Training completion and role-based certification status
• Trainer effectiveness scored via learner feedback
• Performance analytics linked to operational KPIs (SLA, quality, productivity)
• Design multiple delivery modalities: instructor-led, e-learning self-paced, job aids, workflow guides, and peer coaching
• Establish standard global communication methods (email, chat, escalations) for training support and change notifications
• Define change management workflow for curriculum updates, ensuring rapid deployment of product/platform changes

1. Measurement, Reporting & Continuous Improvement

• Track and report training effectiveness metrics aligned to operational impact:
• Advisor productivity and quality improvements post-training
• SLA attainment and consistency across regions
• AI tool adoption rates and workflow automation compliance
• Learner satisfaction and trainer effectiveness scores
• Implement post-training evaluations and performance assessments to validate skill mastery and readiness
• Establish continuous improvement cadence (monthly) with Global Training Council to escalate insights, approve content changes, and refine delivery
• Publish Year 1 capability report to leadership demonstrating training ROI and operational impact
• Link training outcomes to global talent development and career progression

1. Cross-Functional Collaboration & Governance

• Partner with Efficiency & Operations teams to translate workflow automation and AI initiatives into training content
• Collaborate with Product teams on Avenir training and platform readiness
• Align with GDS, Core Product Support, and Avenir Product Support teams on platform-specific curriculum
• Establish Global Training Governance with clear ownership, escalation paths, and decision rights
• Support enterprise-wide transformation initiatives, embedding training into PMO and change management workflows

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• 5+ years in travel operations, training, workforce enablement, or related function
• Proven experience managing a team of trainers or learning professionals across multiple regions
• Deep expertise in corporate travel operations, GDS platforms (Sabre, Amadeus), and international ticketing
• Demonstrated ability designing and scaling training programs across geographies, cultures, and time zones
• Strong communication and facilitation skills; ability to simplify complex technical and operational topics
• Global mindset and comfort working across time zones, cultures, and organizational boundaries
• Project management discipline with ability to manage multiple workstreams and timelines simultaneously

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience with multi-location or global service delivery models and distributed team leadership
• Hands-on knowledge of Avenir platform or similar modern travel booking/servicing systems
• Background with AI/automation tools (including agentic AI platforms)
• Familiarity with workflow automation or agent-assist technologies
• LMS implementation or administration experience (configuration, reporting, user management)
• Experience in a fast-paced, transformation-focused environment with rapid platform/product evolution
• Training ROI analysis and ability to link learning outcomes to operational metrics

SUCCESS MEASURES (FIRST 12–18 MONTHS)

• Global training framework (five pillars) established, approved, and operationalized across Direct Travel and ATPI
• Avenir platform training fully developed and deployed; 90%+ advisor proficiency on core workflows
• Global Enterprise Training Team (HUB) stood up with certified trainers across regions; train-the-trainer model active
• Onboarding readiness achieved; service delivery and work transitions supported with zero training-readiness gaps
• Single global LMS live with real-time dashboards; 100% training compliance tracking across all advisors
• Unified intake process live; training SLAs met with <5% variance across regions
• Advisor productivity and quality improvements measurable post-training (target: 10–15% efficiency gain, consistent SLA attainment)
• AI tool adoption at 80%+ usage rates
• Trainer effectiveness scores averaging 4.2+/5.0 on learner feedback; continuous improvement cadence established
• New market and location launch training embedded in operational rhythm across all regions

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

• Willing to travel 15–25% as needed to support service locations and global training initiatives
• Flexibility to work across time zones for trainer alignment calls, global stand-ups, and 24/7 training support model
• Comfort with ambiguity and rapid change in a transformation-focused environment