Operational Excellence Lead

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.

Role Description:

As an Operational Excellence Lead in the Finance OPEX Team, you will work closely with teams to identify improvement opportunities and create innovative solutions to realize our strategic objectives. You’ll be responsible to bring together a diverse group of stakeholders and leverage their expertise to make data-driven decisions and it will be your responsibility to lead the Continuous Improvement culture in the O2C and Finance departments.

You will accomplish this through a combination of strong stakeholder management, communication, and by applying key principles of Lean/Six Sigma and/or Design Thinking to foster creativity and provide a structure that brings real results.

You’ll work closely with teams from across the department, including O2C, Accounting, Financial Systems, etc., to deliver improvements for our Customers, Partners, and Booking.com.

We find ‘WHAT’ you deliver to be just as important as ‘HOW’ you get there. We are looking for the right individual that shares in our Booking.com values to become a part of our team. This means you’re someone that enjoys a challenge, has a growth mindset, thrives on change, believes collaboration brings about the greatest success and most importantly has a passion for our Customers.

Key Job Responsibilities and Duties:

• Support and execute the strategic approach for Operational Excellence and Continuous improvement for O2C and Finance and liaise with counterparts in other departments and on the central Strategy and Ops team to deliver a consolidated strategic approach for Finance;
• Drive process improvements & technical changes in a diverse stakeholder field with a variety of teams both within and outside of Finance teams including Tech, Product, Accounting, Collections, SAP, etc;
• Lead the cultural change across Finance in order to foster a Continuous Improvement mindset;
• Collect, prioritize and align requirements with your stakeholders through roadmap and backlog management to ensure transparency;
• Prepare successful changes for delivery to implementation teams for global execution;
• Test and monitor success of improvements through appropriate control metrics and monitoring systems;
• Document and communicate progress, insights, and results to relevant stakeholders across the business;
• Use creative, innovative and strategic thinking to identify different ways to resolve issues;
• Analyze process performance and research the need within Finance to identify improvement opportunities;
• Select improvement areas where the biggest impact can be made;
• Use your Lean Six Sigma and/or Design Thinking experience and tools in a pragmatic way to identify root causes and select the best solutions;
• Process/SOP documentation when required;
• Own your development and take responsibility to ask for feedback and identify growth opportunities;

Qualifications & Skills:

• 8+ years of proven track record experience in Lean Six Sigma, Design Thinking, Process Improvement, and leading projects within a diverse stakeholder field;
• Black belt/BPM certification is highly desirable;
• Proven experience on continuous improvement programs;
• Demonstrated track record of defining and executing operational performance and process improvement initiatives, leading them from start to finish;
• Problem solving and structuring skills, being able to simplify complex areas;
• Good communication skills and ability to work, influence and align with a variety of people, levels and roles;
• Flexible and capable to find the right balance between structured problem analysis and project management and agility to deal with Booking.com’s fast-paced change environment;
• Pragmatic and results-focused with a positive ‘can-do’ attitude;
• Ability to work well under pressure, adapting and responding to changing situations;
• You are self-reflective and open to learn and develop;
• Basic SQL, Hadoop, Tableau or similar skills are a plus;

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.