Job Description
Description
The Pacific Community (SPC) is the principal scientific and technical organisation in the Pacific region, supporting development since 1947. We are an international development organisation owned and governed by our 27 country and territory members. In pursuit of sustainable development to benefit Pacific people, our unique organisation works across more than 25 sectors. We are known for our knowledge and innovation in such areas as fisheries science, public health surveillance, geoscience, and conservation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture.
The role – the Travel Coordinator will coordinate all aspects of SPC travel, ensuring that SPC travel is smooth, efficient, safe, cost-effective and compliant with policies and that it facilitates the delivery of SPC’s objectives.
The key responsibilities of the role include the following:
Travel operations coordination and management
- Coordinate travel plans for identified staff and non-staff travel.
- Provide back-up support to secure detailed itineraries and quotes for identified travellers, verifying itineraries where appropriate.
- Develop tools to more efficiently deal with visas, protocol letters, airport transfers, handling emergencies, or changes in plans.
- Develop and maintain standard operating procedures and process workflows/procedures for travel operations.
- Continuously review and update SPC’s travel policies and procedures to ensure they are relevant and effective.
- Provide regular and consistent training and guidance to travellers on travel-related policies, entitlements and best practices.
- Monitor and report on traveller feedback and satisfaction levels to make improvements and address any concerns.
- Gather information on travel-related risks, such as health and safety concerns, geopolitical issues, or natural disasters.
- Assist the Team Leader in Developing and maintaining crisis management plans for potential travel disruptions or emergencies.
- Assist the Team Leader in Developing and implementing emergency response plans to support travellers in crisis situations.
- Analyse travel data to identify cost-saving opportunities, trends, and areas for improvement.
- Implement quality control measures to ensure that travel arrangements meet or exceed traveller expectations and that regular checks of travel, accommodation and travel-related activities are getting best value for money for SPC.
Management of preferred provider arrangements and reporting
- Facilitate appointment of preferred travel providers, renewal of contracts as necessary, maintaining a good professional relationship and considering opportunities for improvement.
- Maintain relationships with travel agencies, hotels, airlines, and other service providers to negotiate favourable terms and rates.
- Conduct regular service audits on SPC’s travel vendors, with a full-service audit to be carried out 6-9 months after the start of any new service provider.
- Together with the Travel Team Leader meet with and brief SPC’s preferred providers to ensure that the travel they process meets with SPC’s expectations and complies with SPC’s travel policy.
- Conduct random checks and maintain a record of fares provided by SPC’s service providers to ensure SPC is getting best value for money.
- Oversee the maintenance of detailed and structured records (including relevant registers) of all travel activities and expenditures and generate reports for management as required.
- Oversee the collection, verification, and processing of travel-related expenses, ensuring accuracy and compliance with related policies.
Coordination of special projects
- Coordinate the management and renewal of travel insurance for all SPC offices and travel claim process.
- Develop tools to automate the management of standard requests and administration of supporting documentation.
- Together with Procurement work on putting in place agreements with accommodation providers and provide support to do the same for conference/workshop venues in locations where SPC travels regularly.
- Coordinate the improvement of how SPC manages and disburses per diems. Assess the per diem rates so SPC can update them according to the market.
- Coordinate improvements in identifying and managing travel involving high risk destination and activities, including awareness and training material.
- Introduce and manage improvements to how SPC manages visa and protocol arrangements.
- Set up and administer the Travel SharePoint site and creation of templates for regular travel news stories on the intranet.
Organisational collaboration
- Together with the Team Leader, participate in work plans for the unit.
- Train staff to ensure the maximum effectiveness of the operations of the Travel team.
- Work with travellers, travel arrangers and all divisions to continuously improve travel at SPC, ensuring efficient and harmonized processes and procedures.
- Collaborate with divisions in order to manage their major travel requirements proactively.
Conference and meeting support
- Provide support for organizational meetings as required, and specifically including SPC’s annual CRGA/Conference which will include (1) Assisting in the preparation of travel budget for CRGA/Conference; (2) Overseeing that all nominations are received in a timely manner for CRGA/Conference; (3) Ensuring that travel, airport transfer and hotel bookings have been completed according to timelines set out by the CRGA/Conference lead.
For a more detailed account of the key responsibilities, please refer to the online job description.
Key selection criteria
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in travel, finance, procurement, administration, international development or equivalent body of knowledge and experience.
Technical expertise
- At least seven years of professional experience in the field of travel organisation.
- Knowledge of international travel arrangements involving acting networks and contacts.
- High level organisational and administrative ability, with a good sense of judgment and demonstrated diplomacy and tact.
- Strong customer focus and demonstrated ability to deliver good quality service within tight time constraints.
- Ability to manage staff effectively and to work in a team environment.
- Good working knowledge of Microsoft Office programmes.
- Internet skills – travel sites.
Language skills
- Fluent in English and French with good oral and written communication skills.
Interpersonal skills and cultural awareness
- Ability to establish and maintain effective relationships with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Salary, terms and conditions
Contract Duration – This vacant position is budgeted for 3 year and is subject to renewal depending on performance and funding.
Remuneration – The Travel Coordinator is a band 9 position in SPC’s 2025 salary scale with a starting salary range of SDR (special drawing rights) 3,350-4,092 per month, which converts to approximately XPF 489,689-598,025 (USD 4,456-5,442; EUR 4,104-5,011). SPC salaries are not presently subject to income tax in New Caledonia. An offer of appointment for an initial contract will normally be made in the lower half of this range, with due consideration given to experience and qualifications. Progression within the salary scale will be based on annual performance reviews.
Benefits for Staff in a position advertised internationally (EPAI) whose duty station is Noumea – SPC provides housing support in Noumea. Establishment and repatriation grant, removal expenses, airfares, home leave travel, health and life and disability insurances and education allowances are available for eligible employees and their eligible dependents. Employees are entitled to 25 working days of annual leave per annum and other types of leave, and access to SPC’s Provident Fund (contributing 8% of salary, to which SPC adds a 10% contribution).
Languages – SPC’s working languages are English and French.
Recruitment principles – SPC’s recruitment is based on merit and fairness, and candidates are competing in a selection process that is fair, transparent and non-discriminatory. SPC is an equal-opportunity employer, and is committed to cultural and gender diversity, including bilinguism, and will seek to attract and appoint candidates who respect these values. Due attention is given to gender equity and the maintenance of strong representation from Pacific Island professionals. If two interviewed candidates are ranked equal by the selection panel, preference will begiven to the Pacific Islander. Applicants will be assured of complete confidentiality in line with SPC’s private policy.
Application procedure
Closing date: 14 September 2025 – 11:00 pm (Noumea time)
Job Reference: CR000472
Applicants must apply online at http://careers.spc.int/
Hard copies of applications will not be accepted.
For your application to be considered, you must provide us with:
- an updated resume with contact details for three professional referees
- a cover letter detailing your skills, experience and interest in this position
- responses to all screening questions
Your application will be considered incomplete and will not be reviewed at shortlisting stage if all the above documents are not provided. Applicants should not attach copies of qualifications or letters of reference.
Please ensure your documents are in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format.
SPC does not charge a fee to consider your application and will never ask for your banking or financial information during the recruitment process.
Screening questions (maximum of 2,000 characters per question):
- What type of training do you think is necessary from the travel team to the customers in a regional organisation like SPC?
- What are the 3 highest risks involved in Travel for an international organisation?
- What is the minimum information that should be in a Travel Report for an international organisation?
