Director of Compliance – Travel Industry

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• 8+ years of progressive compliance experience, ideally within travel, hospitality, airlines, online travel/e-commerce, or another highly regulated consumer-facing environment.
• Direct, hands-on experience working and communicating with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on compliance and regulatory matters. This is a core requirement.
• Strong working knowledge of FTC regulations involving advertising, pricing disclosures, consumer protection, and unfair or deceptive trade practices.
• Strong knowledge of U.S. federal, state, and local travel-industry regulations, including DOT consumer protection requirements and state Seller of Travel laws.
• Demonstrated experience managing compliance across multiple jurisdictions, including registrations, licensing, bonding, disclosures, consumer protection requirements, and regulatory deadlines.
• Experience interpreting complex regulations and translating them into practical requirements for booking, pricing, refunds, disclosures, marketing, payments, and traveler data.
• Working knowledge of international travel and privacy regulations affecting the EU, UK, Canada, and Mexico.
• Experience communicating regulatory risks, requirements, and recommendations to C-suite executives and senior business leaders.
• Strong cross-functional leadership skills with the ability to partner with Legal, Marketing, Product, IT, Data Privacy, IT Security, Finance, Customer Service, and global business leadership.
• Bachelor's degree required.

• Lead the compliance program covering U.S. federal, state, and local travel-industry regulations while monitoring and implementing applicable international requirements.
• Serve as a key compliance contact for regulatory matters, including direct working communication with the FTC.
• Monitor, interpret, and implement FTC requirements involving advertising, pricing disclosures, consumer protection, and unfair or deceptive trade practices.
• Monitor and ensure compliance with Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations, including airline consumer protection, tarmac delay, and full-fare advertising requirements.
• Manage state Seller of Travel requirements, including registration, bonding, trust-account, disclosure, renewal, and filing obligations.
• Track state consumer-protection and cancellation/refund disclosure requirements affecting travel packages, tours, and vacation rentals.
• Monitor applicable state privacy laws, including CCPA/CPRA and other state privacy statutes, as they relate to traveler and guest data.
• Maintain applicable state licensing for travel agencies, tour operators, transportation services, and related operations.
• Maintain a comprehensive compliance calendar covering registrations, renewals, bonding requirements, licenses, and regulatory filing deadlines.
• Monitor and implement applicable EU Package Travel Directive, GDPR, EC 261/2004, and European consumer-protection requirements.
• Ensure applicable compliance with ATOL, UK Package Travel Regulations, UK GDPR/Data Protection Act, and ABTA requirements.
• Monitor Canadian requirements, including Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR), provincial travel-industry requirements such as Ontario TICO, and PIPEDA.
• Monitor applicable Mexican requirements, including the Ley General de Turismo, PROFECO consumer-protection requirements, and Federal Law on Protection of Personal Data.
• Monitor emerging international travel regulations, passenger-data requirements, entry/exit systems, API/PNR data-sharing requirements, and evolving border technology mandates.
• Partner with local counsel and regulatory advisors to validate interpretations and support compliant implementation in international markets.
• Manage compliance associated with cross-border transfers of traveler PII and payment information.
• Oversee applicable IATA, ARC, and airline/supplier contractual and regulatory requirements.
• Manage applicable travel-insurance disclosure and regulatory requirements by state and country.
• Support and oversee PCI-DSS compliance across booking and payment channels.
• Oversee accessibility compliance across websites, mobile booking platforms, and applicable physical accommodations, including ADA, WCAG, EU accessibility requirements, and applicable UK standards.
• Monitor vacation rental and short-term rental regulations in applicable jurisdictions.
• Track emerging regulatory requirements involving the use of AI in pricing, personalization, and chatbots, including potential EU AI Act applicability.
• Build and maintain a scalable compliance framework capable of supporting multi-state and multi-country travel operations.
• Draft and implement policies and procedures covering booking terms, cancellation/refund practices, disclosures, traveler data, and related consumer-facing processes.
• Establish and maintain a compliance risk matrix mapping regulatory obligations by jurisdiction and business line, including air, hotel, package tours, cruise, and car rental.
• Implement monitoring controls designed to identify potential regulatory issues in marketing, pricing, disclosures, and booking flows before they reach consumers.
• Develop and deliver compliance training for reservations, marketing, customer service, product, and other relevant business teams.
• Advise executive leadership regarding regulatory changes affecting new-market entry, new products, destinations, package offerings, and technology/platform changes.
• Serve as an internal compliance subject-matter expert for Legal, Marketing, IT, Customer Service, Finance, Product, Privacy, and other business functions.
• Conduct periodic internal audits covering booking systems, disclosures, refund practices, marketing, pricing, and data handling.
• Prepare and present compliance reports, regulatory updates, and risk assessments to the Chief Legal Officer, Global President, and/or Board of Directors.
• Manage responses to regulatory inquiries, escalated consumer complaints, investigations, and audits involving the FTC, DOT, state Attorneys General, and applicable foreign regulators.
• Develop and oversee remediation plans and corrective actions for identified compliance gaps.
• Collaborate with Legal, Data Privacy, IT Security, Marketing, Product, and other teams to embed compliance into products, campaigns, and business processes.
• Manage relationships with outside counsel and regulatory consultants across applicable jurisdictions.
• Support regulatory due diligence for new suppliers, market expansion, and M&A activity.
• Partner with senior leadership to integrate compliance priorities into global business planning and market strategy.

• Bachelor's degree.
• 8+ years of progressive compliance experience.
• Direct experience working and communicating with the FTC on regulatory/compliance matters.
• Strong knowledge of FTC regulations affecting advertising, pricing disclosures, consumer protection, and unfair or deceptive trade practices.
• Strong understanding of U.S. travel-industry regulatory structures across federal, state, and local jurisdictions.
• Demonstrated experience with state Seller of Travel laws, DOT regulations, and/or travel and consumer-protection frameworks.
• Ability to interpret complex regulatory language and translate it into operational policies, processes, disclosures, controls, and technology requirements.
• Experience managing compliance obligations across multiple jurisdictions.
• Ability to identify regulatory risk and develop practical remediation and monitoring strategies.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience presenting regulatory issues and recommendations to C-suite and senior business leaders.
• Strong relationship-building and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Ability to influence without authority and communicate complex regulatory concepts clearly to business and technical stakeholders.
• Organized, proactive, and comfortable operating in a fast-changing regulatory environment.

• Direct experience within an online travel agency, tour operator, airline, hospitality organization, or related travel business.
• Experience with international regulatory requirements affecting the EU, UK, Canada, and Mexico.
• Experience with GDPR, UK GDPR, PIPEDA, and/or Mexican data-protection requirements.
• JD, advanced degree, or professional compliance/privacy certification such as CCEP, CIPP/E, or CIPP/US.

• Experience with PCI-DSS, ADA/WCAG, IATA, and ARC requirements.
• Familiarity with GRC/compliance-management platforms.
• Spanish and/or French language capabilities.