Senior Program Manager - CS Strategy and Delivery

Discover the Opportunity to Drive Strategic Programs at Booking.com

About Us: At Booking.com, data drives our decisions. Technology is at our core. And innovation is everywhere. But our company is more than datasets, lines of code or A/B tests. We’re the thrill of the first night in a new place. The excitement of the next morning. The friends you encounter. The journeys you take. The sights you see. And the memories you make. Through our products, partners and people, we make it easier for everyone to experience the world.

The Senior Program Manager is part of the Program Management Office Organization (PMO) that brings together our long-term strategy and our operations, translating our strategic initiatives, goals, and ambitions into actionable plans. In this role, you will lead a team of program managers, project managers, and senior technical project managers. The Global Program Management team owns the execution of the business strategy by delivering the strategic programs for CS. The Senior Program Manager is overall responsible for the management of the Unified Agent Desktop Program and Wave 3 & CS AI Programs, working closely with teams in CS Platforms (Product) and CS Tech.

Role Description:

The Senior Program Manager must have demonstrated experience leading large cross-organizational programs and projects in a Product and Tech environment, with a deep technical background in technology/IT departments. You must be able to thrive and succeed in an entrepreneurial environment, not be hindered by ambiguity or competing priorities, and be able to develop and drive high-level strategic initiatives as well as roll up your sleeves and help drive change.

You will anticipate bottlenecks, provide escalation management, make tradeoffs, and balance customer and business needs versus technical constraints. You should be able to take large, complex projects and break them down into manageable pieces, develop functional specifications, and deliver them successfully and on time. Maturity, high judgment, negotiation skills, ability to influence, analytical talent, and leadership are essential. Required knowledge includes product development, build processes, agile program and project management, and release schedules.

This role is responsible for using the agreed Program Management resources and ways of working within the CS Strategy Department and supporting the introduction of recognized Program methodologies inside the wider team. You will lead by example, ensuring the portfolio or program(s) are proactively led and managed in a consistent, quality manner, while working with business units and functions to ensure timely decisions and mitigations are in place to support company and department objectives.

You will be exposed to very senior stakeholders (e.g., Leadership team) and work closely with their teams. You will also actively contribute to establishing and maintaining the program management craft within Booking.com. This role may also play a part in the creation and execution of strategy, ensuring the right topics are being worked on, including designing, driving, and overseeing day-to-day operations or leading change for Booking.com’s most complex transformations.

Key Job Responsibilities and Duties:

Craft Methodology and Standards:

• Lead by example on Project & Program management craft best practices and behaviors. Provide thought leadership, advice, and support on Program Management, including setting high quality standards both within the department and influencing outside.

E2E Program Management:

• Lead a highly complex program or a portfolio of highly complex strategic or critical programs (e.g., complex change/transformational initiatives within the function and organization).

Program Initiation and Planning:

• Drive the program or portfolio of programs scoping and planning, working with different teams and creating associated documentation.
• Bring clarity to sponsors, teams, and stakeholders by defining and documenting program objectives, requirements and success criteria, KPIs, roadmap/E2E planning, risks and dependencies, cost estimates, and general program deliverables.

Program Implementation and Completion:

• Drive execution of program or portfolio plans, ensuring objectives are met on agreed timelines. Bring programs to completion, ensuring seamless Go-Live and smooth handover to operations.
• Track and report status and progress of all streams of work, identifying and highlighting risks/issues/dependencies to governance groups or team members/groups. Create plans and actions to mitigate/solve risks, issues, and/or dependencies.

Program Governance:

• Design and implement portfolio governance, ensuring clarity on accountability, efficient communication, and decision making.
• Design and implement efficient cross-organizational structures and mechanisms to ensure long-term program/portfolio success.
• Enable teams and leaders to make quality decisions and support prioritization inside the program.
• Connect the dots and identify synergies, opportunities, and risks/dependencies across projects/programs, elevating them at the portfolio level where appropriate.

Delivery/Impact:

• Drive the progress and successful delivery of large business initiatives that bring significant value to the business, collaborating with multiple teams and departments to ensure significant change is delivered on scope, timeline, and budget (where applicable).
• Exemplify change management best practices, including an “embracing change/growth” mindset.
• Encourage people to become change agents and embrace change.

Stakeholder Management:

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams across the business to identify and build action plans to improve the impact and experience for our customers, business, and people. Productively interact with and manage senior stakeholders up to VP and MD level.

Success Metrics:

• Define and measure the success metrics of the program(s) in scope.

Facilitator:

• Prepare and independently lead workshops to support the delivery of the program(s).

People Leadership:

• Recruit, mentor, and lead a team of approximately 7 FTEs, fostering a collaborative and high-performance culture.
• Provide clear direction, set performance expectations, and conduct regular performance reviews to ensure team members are meeting their goals and contributing to the program's success.
• Encourage professional development and growth within the team by identifying training opportunities and supporting career advancement.
• Promote a positive and inclusive work environment, ensuring that all team members feel valued and supported.
• Facilitate effective communication within the team and across other departments, ensuring alignment with the program's objectives and strategies.
• Lead by example, demonstrating Booking.com's values and behaviors, and acting as a role model for the team.

Qualifications & Skills:

• 10+ years of experience in project management, with a range of different methodologies and techniques.
• Strong project management skills/experience, including Agile Project Management (Kanban, Scrum, SAFE), PMI/Prince certification and/or LEAN preferred.
• Experience managing a team of project managers and building an effective program management organization.
• Solid business understanding, with the ability to independently use quantitative and qualitative data to drive decision making and tell a clear story with data/insights.
• Strong change management experience, including methodologies and best practices.
• Exemplary role in change management best practices, including an “embracing change/growth” mindset. Encourages people to become change agents and embrace change.
• Explicitly communicates: why change, what will change, how, when, where, and whom it impacts (with possible outcomes and costs). Adjusts communication style to the audience to help them understand and accept the change.
• Strong interpersonal skills focused on collaboration, building and maintaining lasting relationships and connections with diverse teams across the organization and outside. Ability to work effectively and influence up to Senior Director, VP, and MD level.
• Highly organized and structured, ensuring all processes run smoothly and reliably.
• Strong leadership skills, with the ability to influence and steer leadership and senior management, including VP level and productively interact with SVP/MD level.
• Flexibility and the ability to function well within ambiguity and in a constantly changing environment.
• Ability to solve complex problems independently, breaking up complex problems into actionable and easy-to-understand solutions. Hands-on and drives solutions to problems in partnership with involved parties, while focusing on opportunities.
• Ensure the portfolio's outcomes are in line with customer needs and/or expectations.

Benefits & Perks - Global Impact, Personal Relevance:

• Annual paid time off and generous paid leave scheme including: parent, grandparent, bereavement, and care leave.
• Hybrid working, including flexible working arrangements and up to 20 days per year working from abroad (home country).
• Industry-leading product discounts – up to €1400 per year – for yourself, including automatic Genius Level 3 status and Booking.com wallet credit.

Pre-Employment Screening

If your application is successful, your personal data may be used for a pre-employment screening check by a third party as permitted by applicable law. Depending on the vacancy and applicable law, a pre-employment screening may include employment history, education, and other information (such as media information) that may be necessary for determining your qualifications and suitability for the position.