Former Visa travel manager Kim Hamer has joined Navan as its chief travel advisory officer, a new role at the company that will focus on the travel manager community, the company announced.
As part of her 20-year travel management career, Hamer was Visa's senior director of global travel and events sourcing, where her industry-first implementation of a New Distribution Capability channel at scale earned her BTN's 2022 Travel Manager of the Year honours as well as a spot on that year's 25 Most Influential list.
Since leaving Visa early last year, Hamer has been working as a consultant and launched corporate travel consultancy Results Plus alongside Areka Consulting executive Louise Miller.
At Navan, Hamer will provide "hands-on expertise advocating for the customer," Navan president Michael Sindicich, to whom Hamer will report, said in a statement.
"Kim has run some of the most sophisticated travel programmes in the industry, and she will be a tremendous asset for us and our clients."
Hamer in a statement said she joined Navan to help it continue addressing the growing fragmentation in the travel management landscape.
"Navan is turning innovations like NDC, integrated payments and AI from buzzwords into real levers for change, which is exactly what the industry needs," according to Hamer. "I'm excited to collaborate with clients to build programmes that ensure their long-term success."