Strategy & Operations Director, Specialty Travel & Events in London

Overview

As Strategy & Operations Leader, you will act as the operating right hand to the EVP, Specialty Travel & Events, shaping strategy into execution across post-merger integration and the development of Navan’s priority verticals. You’ll align diverse leaders, build an execution cadence, and track progress to ensure critical initiatives deliver measurable value. You will partner across functions to define roadmaps, manage dependencies, and surface risks early. This role offers the chance to influence Navan Events’ future and scale cross-functional operating models in a high-trust environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Specialty Travel & Events portfolio and develop cross-functional strategy across six verticals (Healthcare, High-End Professional Services, Defense Contractors, Production & Media, Energy & Marine, Insurance).
• Translate vertical needs into prioritised product, operations, servicing, integration, compliance, and commercial roadmaps with ownership, milestones, and success measures.
• Drive market readiness with Product, Sales, Operations, and Customer teams, including discovery, RFP/RFI readiness, lighthouse programs, enablement, implementation planning, and feedback loops.
• Identify and scale cross-vertical opportunities with reusable capabilities and operating models; avoid duplicate effort.
• Align post-merger integration activities with priorities and long-term Navan Events strategy with the Boompop Integration Lead.
• Shape Navan Events by translating integration objectives into product, service, and go-to-market priorities with clear trade-offs and value capture.
• Coordinate complex cross-functional programs; manage dependencies, mitigate risks, and ensure execution.
• Prepare executive updates with progress, risks, decisions, dependencies, and escalation needs.
• Design and run the operating cadence for the organization (leadership meetings, portfolio reviews, steering committees, strategic cycles).
• Support critical decisions by framing challenges, evaluating options, and turning decisions into actions and measurable outcomes.
• Own the operating system: portfolio plans, KPI reporting, risk/dependency tracking, decision logs, and action trackers.
• Maximise leadership effectiveness by anticipating priorities and enabling faster, higher-quality decisions across the organization.

Key requirements

• Experience in Chief of Staff, strategic operations, programme management, business operations, consulting, corporate development, integration, or similar high-ownership roles.
• Proven ability to lead complex, ambiguous, cross-functional programs and influence senior stakeholders without formal authority.
• Strong commercial and strategic judgement linking customer needs, product strategy, operations, and financial outcomes.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication for clear narratives, decision papers, updates.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, with bias to action and ability to manage multiple workstreams and sensitive information.
• Comfort working across technology, product, operations, finance, people, legal, procurement, sales, and client-facing teams.
• Experience with post-merger integration, platform/product integration, SaaS, travel, events, regulated industries, or complex services is advantageous.
• High EQ, sound judgement, discretion, and constructive challenge to build trust.

• cross-functional collaboration
• communication
• problem solving
• post-merger integration
• SaaS
• portfolio and KPI management