Senior Manager, Global Travel & Expense

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals

United States
Posted on Nov 27, 2024

We are seeking a motivated and detailed-oriented leader who will manager one staff member and be responsible for establishing and maintaining our Global Travel Expense (T&E) Management program, which includes administration of our corporate credit card programs, creation and maintenance of a strong internal control environment, provide critical reporting, data analytics, data integrity and delivering exceptional customer service. This individual will be responsible for our T&E platform (Concur) and data maintenance. This role requires strong analytical skills, attention to detail, and the ability to work both independently and collaboratively within various teams to assess, troubleshoot, support the program and mitigate risks.

The role ensures compliance with Alnylam’s global travel & expense policy and local legislation. The role will also be responsible for the adoption/implementation of best practices with a focus on continuous improvement across the entire global T&E.

This is a hybrid position that requires 2 days on site per week in our Cambridge, MA office.

Summary of Key Responsibilities

Travel & Expense Process Management:

  • Oversee and manage the travel expense (T&E) management and reimbursement process that are compliant with external rules and regulations, such as US IRS and other taxing and labor jurisdictions, Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and other anti-bribery and anti-corruption regulations.
  • Responsible for maintaining Alnylam’s T&E policy, ensuring the policy remains current with internal and external changes.
  • Responsible for establishing and maintaining a customer service infrastructure that supports employees who need assistance with all aspects of the T&E process, systems and tools, such as Concur.
  • Collaborate with key stakeholders (HR, Finance, Compliance, Strategic Sourcing) to enforce travel-related guidelines and improve processes.
  • Responsible for conducting expense report audits against program policies to ensure accuracy and integrity of transactions and compliance with policies.
  • Responsible for managing Internal Audit and Compliance & Ethics teams requests and addressing audit and compliance observations as needed.
  • Ensure compliance with local, state, and federal regulations related to travel and expenses.
  • Responsible for developing and maintaining comprehensive reporting mechanisms and dashboards to track card usage, spend, and trends.
  • Identify, analyze, and interpret data trends and patterns and prepare ongoing reports and data visualizations to support decision-making and process improvements.
  • Provide regular reporting to senior management, including forecasting and budgetary compliance.
  • Act as the primary liaison between employees and the finance team for any T&E-related issues.
  • Provide ongoing support to employees, resolving any issues related to travel, policy adherence, or expense reporting.
  • Drive automation initiatives to enable greater data visibility, drive informed decisions, and enhanced continuous auditing capabilities.
  • Design & implement key training materials to support T&E operations, expense report submission, and system usage for employees to enhance compliance with policy.
  • Implement best practices for optimizing travel expenses and improving employee compliance and satisfaction
  • Lead cross-functional projects with Accounts Payable, Payroll, Accounting, Finance, Strategic Sourcing, Global Travel, and Meeting & Events teams globally to streamline processes, ensure all necessary controls are in place to enable proper use of cards, prevent or detect potential fraud and noncompliance to policy, correct allocation of charges and on-time payments.

Concur System Administration:

  • Serve as the primary owner and administrator of the Concur Travel and Expense system.
  • Oversee system configuration, updates, and enhancements to meet the company’s requirements.
  • Troubleshoot system issues and work with IT or the Concur support team to resolve them.
  • Ensure proper integration of Concur with financial systems for accurate reporting.
  • Ensure back-end data in Concur is up to date and correct
  • Reconciles Concur data with SAP.
  • Support SAP 4 Hana updates, deployment, and other changes to ensure integration between concur and SAP meets business requirements.

Corporate Credit Card Program(s):

  • Manage the global card programs, including corporate cards, procurement cards, ghost cards, across all geographic locations, ensuring compliance with company policies and procedures.
  • Drive refinement of card policies and establishment of scalable & centralized processes.
  • Lead user training sessions on acceptable usage and reconciliation expectations.
  • Guide employees with inquiries related to their corporate cards, conduct card application review, and provide guidance and support to employees on credit card usage, policies, and procedures.
  • Manage and build relationships with external vendors and global credit card provider(s).
  • Identify and resolve day-to-day and complex matters related to various card types, cross-functional processes, and enterprise-wide system integrations.
  • Evaluate latest credit card technologies and capabilities that are fit for purpose globally (i.e. Virtual Cards).

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree - Preferably in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, or related field.
  • Requires 7+ years of experience in travel expense management and management of corporate credit card programs; preferably with 2+ years in a supervisory role
  • In-depth knowledge of the Concur system or a similar T&E technology platform and experience in system administration is required; experience and knowledge of SAP, is a plus.
  • Highly skilled in corporate card management, card audit, and reporting.
  • Solid people management and development skills.
  • Hands on experience with SOX and FCPA processes and procedures
  • Experience working in a global corporate environment within biotech or comparable regulated industry.
  • Deep understanding of integration of multiple data sources including ERP, Expense, Purchasing and Meeting Card data in effort to streamline processes and track & report effectively.
  • Ability to understand spending patterns, identify cost savings opportunities, and generate reports for management reviews.
  • Analytical mindset with ability to glean insights from data, make strategic recommendations, streamline processes, and communicate in a compelling, visual way.
  • Excellent communication of information and ideas to varied audiences.
  • Champion in customer service attitude enabling a highly collaborative environment toward internal and external vendors.
  • Ability to lead and drive change in a developing business environment and coordinate processes involving cross-functional teams, complex systems, & tight deadlines across multiple time zones.
  • Ability to navigate and champion company policies and compliance regulations.
  • Excellent interpersonal, communication, leadership and influencing skills. Ability to interact with individuals at all levels internally and externally.

About Alnylam: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ALNY) has led the translation of RNA interference (RNAi) into a whole new class of innovative medicines with the potential to transform the lives of people afflicted with rare and more prevalent diseases. Based on Nobel Prize-winning science, RNAi therapeutics represent a powerful, clinically validated approach to treating diseases at their genetic source by “interfering” with mRNA that cause or contribute to disease. Since our founding in 2002, Alnylam has led the RNAi Revolution and continues to turn scientific possibility into reality.

Our culture: Our people-first culture is guided by our core values: fiercely innovative, open culture, purposeful urgency, passion for excellence, and commitment to people, and these values influence how we work and the business decisions we make. Thanks to feedback from our employees over the years, we’ve been fortunate to be named a top employer around the world. Alnylam is extremely proud to have been recognized as the #1 Large Employer by Boston Globe Top Places to Work in 2023 for the third consecutive year, one of Science Magazine’s Top Biopharma Employers, one of America's Most Responsible Companies for 2024 by Newsweek, a Fast Company Best Workplace for Innovators, and a Great Place to Work in Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and UK – among others.

At Alnylam, we commit to an inclusive recruitment process and equal employment opportunity. We are dedicated to building an environment where employees can feel that they belong, can bring their authentic selves to work, and achieve to their full potential. By empowering employees to embrace their unique differences at work, our business grows stronger with advanced and original thinking, allowing us to bring groundbreaking medicines to patients. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, ethnicity, marital status, protected veteran status, disability, or any other characteristics prohibited by law.