Director Strategy & Operations - Marketing

Role Description

The Director Strategy & Operations - Marketing is accountable for shaping and driving the strategic, operational and transformation agenda for Marketing. They translate company and BU strategy into clear portfolios, plans and outcomes; design and run the operating cadence that keeps the business on track; and lead cross-functional programs and change initiatives so that priorities land in a robust, scalable way.

The Director Strategy & Operations - Marketing acts as a primary thought partner to the CMO and leadership team, orchestrating work across a multitude of functions. They lead a team of professionals across Strategy, Business Operations, Program/Project Management and are responsible for building a high-performing team.

The Director Strategy & Operations - Marketing manages and partners with the Strategy, Business Operations, Risk & Privacy, and PMO teams who are accountable for setting up and managing the various Marketing processes as well as building a project portfolio for the Marketing function, enabling all teams to have visibility of current projects, timelines, and progress reports. They are responsible for the governance of the Marketing function. The Director will report and work closely with the CMO and their Marketing Leadership Team to build business cases for change programs of work, and will be the point of contact into the Marketing LT for governance and engagement.

The Director Strategy & Operations - Marketing is accountable for the successful implementation of the company must-do’s around privacy legal. They lead the changes for Marketing channels and Marketing Technology around DMA, DSA, and other legislation. For this they work closely with the Chief Privacy Officer and the Director Risk & Control. They align with the CTO and team for correct implementation of cookie governance and marketing privacy processes.

Responsibilities

• Supports the definition of Marketing multi-year strategy and vision linked to company strategy.
• Serve as strategic thought partner of the CMO & Marketing Leadership Team: closely align with the Marketing VPs and able to support them in implementation of company processes in their channels. Advise, influence, and support the Marketing Leadership Team and responsible for achieving Marketing priorities.
• Translate strategy into portfolios, plans and decisions.
• Turn strategic intent into concrete portfolios, roadmaps and annual/quarterly plans with clear priorities, trade-offs and success measures.
• Ensure robust business cases, economics and scenario analysis underpin material decisions (investments, de-prioritizations, restructures, major programs).
• Design and run the operating cadence.
• Own or co-own the rhythm of the business in their domain: annual planning, quarterly/monthly reviews, portfolio and OKR reviews, and steering forums with clear inputs/outputs.
• Ensure KPIs, risks and dependencies are visible; enable timely course-correction rather than after-the-fact reporting.
• Lead cross-functional orchestration.
• Align and coordinate across a multitude of business functions and other stakeholders to land strategies and programs in a coherent, customer-centric way.
• Resolve cross-functional conflicts and trade-offs, escalating only the most material decisions.
• Build and lead Strategy, Business Operations and Program teams.
• Lead a team of senior SBOPC professionals (typically strategy, business operations, program and/or change leads), providing direction, coaching, performance management and succession planning.
• Represent and steward the Strategy, Business Operations & Program job family group.
• Act as a visible ambassador for the Strategy, Business Operations & Program job family group, demonstrating the value of strategy, business operations, program and change management to stakeholders and peers.
• Contribute to the evolution of the SBOPC job family group across Booking.com: shape roles, span of control and ways of working to balance job family depth with BU-specific expertise; share best practices, help define standards and templates, mentor across BUs, and actively participate in SBOPC communities of practice.
• Role-model connected, enterprise-level thinking rather than purely local optimization.
• Own people, culture, and change in their area.
• Lead through transformation with clarity on why, what and how for teams and stakeholders.
• Bring marketing-specific curiosity and adaptability to become a knowledgeable sparring partner for the ELT.
• Tech & AI: Continuously assess new technological developments and opportunities to improve output and optimize operations.

Strategy

Scope & outcomes

• Define and evolve the multi-year strategy and vision for Marketing.
• Build opportunity portfolios, roadmaps and coherent narratives that translate strategy into prioritized investments and clear trade-offs.
• Frame and track the economics of the domain (e.g. revenue, margin, TTV, Net Zero pathways, new business models) to support target setting and scenario planning.

Key responsibilities – Strategy

• Lead multiple critical, often ambiguous strategic projects end-to-end, from problem framing and hypothesis design through analysis, synthesis and recommendation.
• Maintain a deep understanding of the market, competition, customer and regulatory context for the domain and incorporate this into strategic choices.
• Turn strategy into operational plans (e.g. 3-year plans, annual plans, country/segment strategies) with aligned objectives, KPIs and resource envelopes in partnership with Finance, Product/Tech and Operations.
• Shape and/or run relevant strategic governance (e.g. strategy reviews, portfolio councils, LT/ELT discussions) and ensure clear, consistent communication of strategic direction.

Business Operations

Scope & outcomes

• Own the operating system for Marketing: planning, performance management, financial and resource governance, and decision-support.
• Ensure Marketing consistently delivers against budget and key operational KPIs, with transparent reporting and timely corrective actions.
• Improve ease of working and internal customer experience via clear processes, documentation, tooling and engagement models.

Key responsibilities – Business Operations

• Design, implement and continuously improve business cadences (e.g. annual planning, QBR/MBR/QOR, portfolio and BoW reviews), working closely with the leadership team and FP&A.
• Drive planning and resource allocation for Marketing, ensuring alignment between strategy, budgets, FTE capacity and delivery commitments.
• Build and maintain performance dashboards and scorecards, providing actionable insights and recommendations rather than pure reporting.
• Act as a central point of contact for cross-functional partners, streamlining processes and improving the quality and speed of decision-making.

Capabilities & experience – Business Operations

• Deep experience with operational excellence, planning and performance management, ideally at department / BU level.
• Strong process design and optimization skills; able to balance standardization with BU-specific needs.
• High comfort with financials and data, including budgeting, forecasting and KPI design.

Program Management

Scope & outcomes

• Own one or more critical programs and/or portfolios that cut across multiple functions and teams (e.g. regulatory, payments, major tech migrations, large commercial transformations).
• Ensure programs are delivered on time, within agreed risk and quality thresholds, and with clearly realized business outcomes.
• Shape and embed program governance standards and ways of working across Marketing (and often across the company).

Key responsibilities – PM

• Define and maintain program charters, success criteria, milestones, and scope; ensure alignment with strategic priorities and budget constraints.
• Design and run governance and steering for programs/portfolios (e.g. steering committees, RAID management, stage gates, Jira or equivalent as system of record).
• Manage dependencies and risks across multiple products, teams and departments; intervene early to unblock progress and re-prioritize where needed.
• Build and nurture a program management community: standards, templates, training, mentoring, and consistent expectations across programs.

Capabilities & experience – PM

• Significant experience leading large, cross-functional programs and/or portfolios, ideally in a tech-enabled environment.
• Strong governance design skills; able to implement lean but effective decision-making structures and reporting.
• High comfort operating at both strategic and detailed execution levels, with the ability to zoom in and out quickly.

Expected behaviors

• Customer- and partner-centric.
• Ground decisions impact travelers, partners and internal customers; make trade-offs explicit when commercial and customer outcomes are in tension.
• Strategic and systems thinking.
• Connect dots across markets, products, functions and time horizons; avoid narrow optimization.
• Anticipate second- and third-order effects of decisions and design for long-term resilience, not just short-term wins.
• Optimize for the bigger system, not just your own good.
• Data-driven and outcome-oriented.
• Use qualitative and quantitative evidence to frame problems, make decisions and challenge assumptions.
• Focus on measurable outcomes and leading indicators, not just activity or process compliance.
• Pragmatic executor.
• Balance rigor with pragmatism; simplify where possible and avoid over-engineering.
• Move from strategy to execution quickly, iterating based on learning and feedback.
• Influential, clear communicator.
• Communicate complex topics in simple, compelling narratives tailored to different audiences (ELT, LT, ICs, external stakeholders).
• Create alignment through influence rather than authority; listen actively and seek diverse perspectives.
• Inclusive, people-first leadership.
• Learner.
• Challenge status quo, explore new ways of working and opportunities via connecting the dots.
• Foster innovation by being curious and having a learner mindset.
• Bigger picture & influencing.
• Navigating macro level and details - being able to add value on all levels - focusing on innovation.
• Story telling to influence via others.
• Multiplier of efficiency and operational excellence.
• Leverages latest technologic developments to reduce complexity and simplify processes.
• Brings innovate solutions to operational challenges and gets these adopted by the intended audience.

Profile & experience

Experience

• Master’s degree or equivalent professional experience in a relevant field (e.g. Business, Economics, Engineering, Data, Public Policy) preferred; Bachelor’s degree required.
• Typically 10–15+ years of relevant experience in some combination of: strategy, management consulting, corporate development, business operations, program/portfolio management, and/or large-scale change.
• Proven track record leading cross-functional initiatives with senior stakeholders (VP/SVP/ELT level) in complex, global organizations.
• Deep Understanding of Marketing.

Leadership

• Significant experience leading high-performing teams (ideally multi-disciplinary SBOPC teams) and developing senior talent.
• Comfortable operating as a right hand to a VP/SVP, with high levels of trust and autonomy.
• The ability to drive change, to think big and simultaneously understand and appreciate the details necessary to operationalize overarching strategies and goals; the ability to make sense of complex issues and ambiguous situations.
• Excellent corporate agility to collaborate and build relationships at all levels of the organization and have impact across the organization.
• Results driven & eager to make an impact.
• Structured problem solving, advanced stakeholder management, excellent written and verbal communication, strong financial and analytical skills, and familiarity with modern program and change practices.