Travel Back Office Coordinator

This role is currently a hybrid position, with onsite attendance required based on business, operational, and training needs. The work arrangement may be modified in the future to support departmental or organizational needs.

About the role

The Travel Back Office Administrator handles specialized financial operations, commission tracking, and accounting compliance for corporate and university travel. This role manages vendor payments, reconciles Airline Reporting Corporation (ARC) settlements, processes corporate direct bills, and generates critical accounting reports. The ideal candidate is a dedicated team player and self-motivated professional who can quickly master complex systems, resolve agent ticketing errors, collaborate with external vendors, assist in special departmental projects, and maintain open communication with leadership by proactively seeking supervisor counsel on complex or sensitive issues.

Responsibilities

• Manage vendor payments and reconcile Airline Reporting Corporation (ARC) settlements
• Process corporate direct bills
• Generate critical accounting reports
• Resolve agent ticketing errors
• Collaborate with external vendors
• Assist in special departmental projects
• Proactively seek supervisor counsel on complex or sensitive issues
• Interface with back-office accounting systems using GDS (Travelport, Sabre, Amadeus) data entry requirements
• Perform data validation, data manipulation, and financial reconciliation using Excel
• Draft correspondence conveying information clearly and concisely
• Interact effectively with a diverse clientele using excellent written and verbal customer service skills
• Defuse situations with dissatisfied customers and explain travel industry practices and policies
• Verify accuracy of transactions and answer general customer inquiries using University accounting procedures and automated PAC system

Requirements

• Minimum of 5 years of active back-office administrative experience in a travel agency or corporate travel department
• General knowledge of airline operations, ticketing procedures, and complex fare rules
• Knowledge in GDS (Travelport, Sabre, Amadeus) data entry requirements sufficient to interface with back-office accounting systems
• Strong proficiency in Excel for data validation, data manipulation, and financial reconciliation
• Demonstrates sound judgment by actively seeking supervisor counsel when resolving high-level financial discrepancies or complex compliance issues
• Highly self-motivated, sharp eye for detail, and exceptionally adaptable under pressure
• Ability to work under conflicting priorities and a widely fluctuating workload
• General knowledge of business communications and writing skills sufficient to draft correspondence clearly and concisely
• Excellent written and verbal customer service skills to interact effectively with a diverse clientele
• Ability to defuse situations with dissatisfied customers and explain travel industry practices and policies
• Ability to take initiative in recognizing work that needs to be done and doing it
• Experience working in a fast-paced corporate agency setting
• Skill in working as part of and contributing to a team, acting as a strong team player with a collaborative mindset
• Ability to work accurately with numbers, a heavy volume of documents, and a great amount of detail
• Skill in using judgment and making appropriate job decisions following standard office policies and past precedents, and in recognizing urgent situations and taking appropriate action
• High School diploma or equivalent experience (Required)

Qualifications

• Demonstrated ability to quickly learn and navigate a variety of specialized UCLA applications (e.g., Bruin Buy) and third-party vendor platforms (e.g., Trams, Grasp, Hotel Direct Bill App) (Preferred)
• Knowledge of University accounting procedures and automated PAC system sufficient to verify accuracy of transactions and answer general customer inquiries (Preferred)
• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent experience (Preferred)

Pay

UCLA provides a full pay range. Actual salary offers consider factors, including budget, prior experience, skills, knowledge, abilities, education, licensure and certifications, and other business considerations. Salary offers at the top of the range are not common.

Benefits

Visit UC Benefit package to discover benefits that start on day one, and UC Total Compensation Estimator to calculate the total compensation value with benefits.

Schedule

• Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. PT and/or variable based on operational needs

Continued employment is contingent upon the completion of a satisfactory background investigation. A Live Scan background check must be completed prior to the start of employment.

Union/Policy Covered: CX-Clerical & Allied Services