Principal Data Engineer - Data & AI, Marketplace

Role Description

About the Team

Marketplace Data & AI (MPDAI) is the data and AI engine behind how Booking.com understands and serves the traveller — spanning Experimentation, Customer Data Platform, Traveller Intelligence, and AI Experience. We're a multi-craft organisation across Product, Software Engineering, Data and AI, working across Amsterdam, Tel Aviv and Bangalore, powering Connected Trip and the next generation of AI-native traveller products whilst also serving the entire company for experimentation and AI products.

About the scope and the role

As a Principal Data Engineer I - Marketplace Data & AI, you will be an overall Data Engineering leader.

You will:

• Operate across Marketplace Data & AI's tracks — Traveller Intelligence, Experimentation, Benefits & Relevance, AI Experience — connecting and understanding stakeholders across a fast-growing, multi-track organisation
• Design and build the data models, pipelines, and interfaces that let one track's data be discovered, trusted, and used by another, applying data product or data mesh thinking where it genuinely fits
• Get hands-on with the hardest data problems yourself: complex Spark/Flink pipelines, tricky modelling decisions, performance issues nobody else has been able to crack
• Propose what "good" looks like for shared data infrastructure at Booking.com, and pressure-test that thinking with architects, principals, and leads across tracks before asking anyone to adopt it
• Work closely with SEMs, GPMs, and EMs across tracks to make sure any shared data investment is driven by what product teams actually need to build, not architectural elegance for its own sake
• Architect data foundations that stay relevant as MPDAI's tracks and priorities take shape

You are a role model of the Booking.com values

• Thrive on change and gets things done
• Demand a high standard of excellence in their craft
• Embrace the opportunity to improve
• Understand success starts with accountability and ownership
• Care more about being successful and reaching goals together than individually
• Curious, experiments and continuously learns
• Humble, open, friendly and remember that diversity gives us strength
• You are a key pillar of Data Engineering craft and community

Role Qualifications and Requirements

• 12+ years of software development experience, minimum 3 years in lead/architect role
• Bachelors or Masters degree in Computer Science or related field
• Experience in modern Data Management systems, architecture and approaches: Cataloging, Technical Lineage, Data Quality, Knowledge Graphs
• Experience in applying compliance and regulatory requirements (SOx, GDPR, DMA, …) across services and platforms
• Ability to proactively manage multiple projects and a magnitude of stakeholders
• Knowledge of Data Governance requirements and tooling, e.g. based on DAMA
• Strong knowledge of data quality requirements and implementation methodologies
• Excellent English communication skills, both written and verbal

Benefits & Perks

• Annual paid time off and generous paid leave scheme including parental (22-weeks paid leave), grandparent, bereavement, and care leave
• Hybrid working including flexible working arrangements, working from home furniture and ergonomic support, and up to 20 days per year working from abroad (home country)
• A beautiful sustainable HQ Campus in Amsterdam that offers on-site meals, coffee, and snacks, plus multi-faith and breastfeeding rooms at the office
• Commuting allowance and bike reimbursement scheme
• Discounts and Wallet credits to spend on our products, upgrade to Booking.com Genius Level 3, and friends & family Booking.com discount vouchers
• Free access to online learning platforms, development and mentorship programs
• Global Employee Assistance Program and free Headspace membership