SUMMARY
The Travel & Expense Specialist will optimize travel management, improve compliance, enhance cost control, and provide exceptional support to staff. The position will also oversee the management of travel and expense tools, including credit card transactions, while ensuring a streamlined process that aligns with organizational goals and practices required for the operations of South Texas College of Law Houston.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following. Other duties may be assigned.
Key Responsibilities:
· Travel Coordination & Booking
o Coordinate and manage travel arrangements for faculty, staff, and other stakeholders across all departments.
o Assist employees with booking air, hotel, car rentals, and other travel needs in alignment with institutional policy and preferred vendor agreements.
· Expense Management
o Administer and maintain travel and expense management tools (e.g., Concur, Chrome River), ensuring accurate entry, timely submission, and proper documentation of all travel-related expenses.
o Review and reconcile credit card transactions and expense reports, confirming compliance with policy and proper use of funds.
· Compliance Oversight
o Monitor and enforce compliance with institutional travel and expense policies, federal and state regulations (e.g., IRS guidelines), and grant-specific restrictions.
o Review expense submissions to identify and address policy violations, unallowable costs, or discrepancies; communicate required corrections or training needs with departments.
o Maintain accurate audit trails and documentation to support internal audits, external audits, and financial reporting.
o Partner with finance, procurement, and grants offices to stay current on evolving compliance standards and update travel policy and procedures accordingly.
· Cost Optimization & Vendor Management
o Identify cost-saving opportunities through travel consolidation, use of negotiated rates, and expansion of preferred vendor partnerships.
o Analyze travel spend data and trends to recommend changes that improve efficiency and reduce costs.
· Training & Employee Support
o Serve as the primary point of contact for employee inquiries related to travel booking, expense submissions, and system usage.
o Provide training and support to staff on travel processes, policies, and compliance requirements.
o Develop and distribute guidance materials, FAQs, and communications to promote policy awareness and consistent application.
SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES
n/a
QUALIFICATIONS To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Must be professional and confidential of all department data and correspondence. The person must have a poised and professional image; strong ability to multi-task and prioritize in a fast paced environment, excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to interact effectively and efficiently with all employees, visitors and students while projecting a positive image for the area and law school. Service oriented with ability to make all visitors feel welcome. Must be computer literate with proficiency in MS Office applications (Word, Excel and PowerPoint) with ability to learn new programs as necessary. Must be detail-oriented and able to work in a fast-paced multi-tasking environment.
EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Accounting, or related field preferred (or equivalent experience)
3+ years of experience minimum in travel management, accounts payable, or expense compliance
Proficiency in expense management platforms (e.g., Concur, Chrome River)
Strong knowledge of travel industry practices and compliance frameworks
Excellent communication, analytical, and problem-solving skills
Experience in higher education or nonprofit setting
LANGUAGE SKILLS
Proficient in both spoken and written English. Ability to interpret and explain complex data. Ability to effectively and professionally communicate in one-on-one and small group situations to students, alumni, clients, and other employees of the organization.
MATHEMATICAL SKILLS
Ability to perform basic to intermediate math essential. Must possess the ability to analyze numerical data and detect patterns, errors and trends.
REASONING ABILITY
Ability to define routine problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions to solve routine problems and/or deal with a variety of variables in situations, especially when department head may be out of office or unavailable. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.
CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS
PHYSICAL DEMANDS The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit and talk or hear. The employee is regularly required to stand and walk. Ability to lift up to 20lbs. is required. Lifting from floor level, at waist, and above shoulders required. Infrequent bending and stooping necessary. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision in order to accurately input data and proofread; distance vision in order to recognize and assist visitors to the department.
WORK ENVIRONMENT The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Extremely fast paced, multi-tasking, non-smoking work environment. Must be able to work the general business schedule of the law school (9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.) plus occasional evenings and weekends as necessary.
Required Skills
Required Experience