Senior Strategy Manager

At Booking.com, data drives our decisions. Technology is at our core. And innovation is everywhere. 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 Accommodations Strategy, Business Operations and Program Management organization (ABU SBOPC) is the function within the Accommodations Business Unit responsible for supporting the Accommodations Leadership Team (“ALT”), as well as their respective organizations, in:

• Setting the long term direction and priorities of the Accommodations business, leading all strategic planning around the main business priorities, acting as the link to corporate strategy and serving as a sounding board in high impact business challenges and opportunities
• Owning the governance cadence, business performance management, operational efficiency, workforce management, planning and cross-functional collaboration between inter- and intra- departmental stakeholders
• Driving Program Management to improve the delivery of cross-functional projects and programs, leveraging best practices such as risk and dependency management and being responsible for the business outcomes delivery of all respective initiatives including (supply) compliance topics and ABU specific workstreams of Large Horizontal Programs
• Driving the craft community in the unit and contributing to the development of the SBOPC craft as a whole

Role Overview

In this role, you will drive strategic and operational decisions across a variety of topics, and create overall strategic direction and alignment across the business.

The role plays a leading part in the creation and execution of the strategy, ensures the right topics are being worked on across multiple Departments and stakeholders, and that results are achieved, in line with our business strategy.

This may also include governance and active program and/or portfolio management or leading the change for Booking.com’s most complex transformations.

Key Job Responsibilities and Duties

Develop Multi-year Strategies & Resolve Strategic Questions

• Lead multiple critical projects/programs to solve complex open-ended strategic challenges
• Scope well structured projects and workstreams across complicated topics and stakeholder environments
• Define problems, scope and perform analytical tasks with rigor and high degrees of objectivity
• Develop recommendations, communicate and align with compelling storyline to senior stakeholders (VPs/SVPs)
• Identify focus areas, including goals, how to get there, operating model and business cases for new investments (with FP/A)
• Achieve on-going alignment and buy-in from leadership through frequent consultations

Understand & Assess Implications of Market, Competitive, Customer and Business Context

• Be a thought leader on the business topics relevant to your area
• Pro-actively reshape the strategic agenda based on deep understanding of business & market knowledge
• Have a deep understanding on historical and future trends - like competition, consumers, competitors, regulations, technology changes
• Understand implications of above and articulate risks/opportunities arising out of such trends

Operationalize Strategy

• Lead development of operational plans from strategic priorities
• Ensure focus areas, resource allocation, objectives, KPIs & metrics are aligned to strategy and with relevant stakeholders (e.g. Finance, Operational Leads)
• Refine and maintain a clear strategic roadmap, linked to operational realities and long term goals
• Help ensure effective and consistent communication of strategy and annual goals
• Monitor quarterly objectives/strategic priorities, ensure prompt & effective actions are taken by the responsible owners to course correct where necessary
• Support leadership (VP and above) in understanding inefficiencies in strategy delivery especially cross-brand/cross-department collaboration/across multiple initiatives

Craft Contribution

• Craft leader for the Business Unit. Drives and shapes the future of the strategy craft

Support Decision Making by Leadership

• Support decision making for leadership
• Ensure Leadership Teams (VP and above) are spending time on most important topics & have high quality materials in order make effective, impactful decisions
• Ensure annual, quarterly & weekly leadership processes (e.g. offsites) are effective at connecting strategy, leadership decisions and downstream execution

Role Qualifications and Requirements

• Bachelor's degree
• 6-10 years of relevant experience

Strategic Thinking

• Can break down complex, ill-defined business problems into clear project definition, with well articulated workstreams to solve
• Has a mature understanding of Booking and the travel/OTA industry (consumer preferences, competition etc.)
• Is highly proficient in performing complex analytical tasks and can also scope the analysis for others
• Can develop high quality solutions to business problems which drive significant business impact
• Demonstrate ability to think creatively and “connect the dots” to create high quality solutions which drive significant business impact

Communication

• Fluent in English (written and verbal)
• Has ability to craft persuasive narratives & communicate effectively on complex projects
• Is a highly effective & clear presenter, and can very effectively adapt style to their audience
• Has ability to develop trust and credibility with senior stakeholders with their communication style
• Is a highly effective communicator who is credible & trusted by senior audiences and a strong facilitator of large groups (15+) and/or challenging groups
• Is an excellent influencer in all groups up, enables department leadership. Influences and manages SVP/VP level and enables them to lead change.

Impact & Delivery

• Can independently manage multiple complex project/programs on their own
• Has ability to manage and influence stakeholders at all levels of the organization, including senior management (VPs/Senior VPs) with competing priorities
• Can lead cross functional collaboration in a highly matrix and complex environment

Leadership & Development

• Can proactively set the mid-term vision for the team/topics of ownership
• Demonstrates good judgment and can be a trusted, credible advisor to senior leadership (VPs & above)
• Demonstrated ability to mentor & support junior team members
• Ability & commitment to learn fast and adapt to a fast moving environment

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.