HR Director Central Tech

Role Description

The HR Director for Central Technology will be a visible partner to the business and the primary point of contact between the business organisations and HR senior management to address business needs requiring all HR capabilities including: organisational design, employee engagement & culture, talent management, total rewards and employee relations. This will include strategically leading the Business HR team and also partnering closely with the SVP Central Technology (CTO) and their Leadership Team. This position will be based at Booking.com’s headquarters office in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and report to our VP HR CBO (also based in Amsterdam).

HR Director for Central Technology will be leading a small, highly experienced team of dedicated Senior HR Business Partners. They will establish strategic organizational development plans for the Central Technology Department as well as oversee the HR activities pertaining to recruitment, culture, performance, talent development, total rewards and employee relations.

Key Relationships

Reporting line to the Vice President HR CBO and strong partnership with the SVP Central Technology (CTO), CT LT, CT ELT and People Dept COEs.

Key Responsibilities

The HR Director for Central Technology will serve as a strategic and active member of Booking.com’s Central Technology Leadership Team (CT LT). They will be responsible for developing a strategic human capital plan to support company objectives and strategy, as well as HR strategies and programs to build an effective and inclusive high-performance culture. Specifically, they will:

• Understand the business, build relationships with Central Technology Department’s stakeholders, work with fellow business leaders to help them build a successful organization
• Lead People-related business initiatives for the Central Technology Department in synergy with Booking.com’s global People organization, including organizational design, workforce planning, succession planning, compensation, benchmarking, etc.
• Design a comprehensive talent strategy with executive management to ensure successful execution of business objectives
• Work with the Talent Acquisition team, Compensation, and Talent Management teams to develop and facilitate strategic recruiting solutions between the partners. Be the voice of the Central Technology Organisations within the People Department
• Hold accountability for identifying, predicting and articulating key People related business challenges. Translate Central Technology Department’s strategies into forward-thinking and actionable People plans. Set near-term priorities to support the annual business plan execution while simultaneously developing long-term human capital initiatives to prepare the business for further growth
• Hold responsibility for the organisational design and development measured through org health metrics, design principles, investment budget and productivity. Proactively participate in the budgeting and strategic planning process with a long term Org Design lens
• Identify capability or other people related gaps hindering achievement of business outcomes and ensure business is focused on solving root cause issues to improve organization effectiveness. Ensure planning, evaluation and implementation of talent mgmt and succession plans for critical ELT roles
• Act as the trusted partner towards the CTO in designing and executing Central Technology LT development journeys
• Coach executives and management on planning and communications related to change management
• Be a visible partner to the business, primary point of contact between the line organisations and HR senior management to address business needs touching all HR functions and capabilities
• A critical role in the formulation of long term HR strategy and accountability for delivery and adoption of long term global People strategy within the Central Technology organisation
• Hold accountability for driving global functional change across the organisation
• Proactively nurture and develop customer centric company culture, vision and values within the Central Technology organisation
• Partner with and coach the group of cross-BU Technology VPs (Tech Circle) in support of the global Technology Strategy delivery

Ideal Experience & Skills

• Proven experience managing and implementing large scale HR programs, organizational design, change & transformation efforts in a technology company, specifically working with multi-capability business units
• Knowledge leader, with demonstrated mastery in organizational development/design, change leadership, and overall talent management
• A business leader, who is equally a builder of HR solutions based on HR best practices, as well as an astute business team member who employs solutions that affect the current and future performance of the business
• A strategic thinker yet focused on execution, with ability to derive actionable, forward looking insights from complex data sets
• Proven contribution to the effectiveness of the assigned business functions and of line management (leadership development), as well as anticipating and articulating strategic challenges, brokering broader HR function's expertise areas to advise with a long term impact lens
• Excellent coach in the individual and team relationships with highly developed influencing skills
• Past experience and exposure in navigating complex senior stakeholder groups
• Experimental, ready to learn and open to change

Other Personal Characteristics

• Strong executive presence and ability to communicate strategy clearly and simply
• Strong interpersonal skills, flexible and a positive attitude
• Self-motivated and able to take ownership of key topics
• Strong cultural and organizational sensitivity
• Able to function in a fast-moving environment
• Unquestionable integrity

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.