Director of Programme Management, Business Operations & Change Management

ouses. The Booking.com website and mobile apps are available in over 44 languages, offer more than 28M total reported listings, and cover over 174,000 destinations in 229 countries worldwide. Offering 30 different types of places to stay, including homes, apartments, B&Bs, hostels, farm stays, bungalows, even boats, igloos, and treehouses. So whether travelling for business or leisure, customers can instantly book their ideal accommodation quickly and easily, without booking fees and backed up by its promise to price match. Via the customer experience team, customers can reach Booking.com 24/7 for assistance and support in over 44 languages, any time of the day or night.

At Booking.com, we are all involved in making hundreds of decisions every day. The decisions we make are a reflection of our Values - they reflect what is important to us, both as individuals and as an organisation.

When Values are made explicit, they provide clarity on what "good" looks like. And when they are shared, they build unity in a group. They build culture.

• Think customer first. We obsess about adding value for our customers - guests, partners, colleagues - to make it easier for everyone to experience the world.

• Own it. We deliver on our promises, make informed decisions and prioritize to get the important things done today.

• Learn forever. We are resilient, take time to reflect, and seek to learn - from colleagues, from the outside world and from our failures.

• Succeed together. We celebrate team success, through making connections, building trust and valuing the diverse perspectives of others.

• Do the right thing. We get the right results the right way. For each other, our communities and the world around us.

Director of Programme Management, Business Operations & Change Management

The Director of Programme Management, Business Operations & Change will be responsible for translating the agreed Customer Service strategy into clear, structured programmes that can be delivered at pace and with measurable impact. Whilst the role does not define strategy, it ensures it is executed effectively through disciplined planning, structured governance and the right operating model.

As a key member of the CS Leadership Team, the Director will support the company's annual and quarterly planning cycles by driving the rhythm, reporting and structured tracking required to keep the organisation focused on its most critical priorities. They will enable high-quality decision-making and provide leadership with visibility on progress, risks and resource alignment.

The role plays a pivotal part in leading transformational change across the function by ensuring the organisation is successfully taken through complex, cross-functional shifts in capability whether this is in a formal program structure or a business as usual initiative. It will shape and communicate the broader transformational narrative, align teams behind change objectives and embed new ways of working.

The Director will oversee the PMO (Programme and Project Management Office), business operations and organisational change team, embedding operational excellence, ensuring programme success and maintaining clear leadership visibility.

In addition, the Director will assume Chief of Staff style responsibilities for the Vice President of Customer Service by working directly with the VP to coordinate priorities, align the leadership team and ensure decisions are actioned and sustained across the organisation. This includes ensuring the organisation operates effectively, identifying and removing barriers to execution and fostering cross-functional alignment as well as working with HR on embedding a talent and performance management culture.

The role will also play a key role in working with departments outside of CS ensuring there is strong collaboration and alignment on activities.

The Director will prepare and deliver executive-level presentations, provide senior forums with concise and outcome-driven programme updates and coordinate leadership events such as offsites, strategy sessions and decision-making forums. Agendas, materials and outputs will be tightly linked to business priorities. They will be expected to operate with high credibility, discretion and influence across senior stakeholders, regularly representing the VP in critical discussions and driving accountability across the leadership network.

Key Responsibilities

Programme Delivery & Governance • Establish and maintain the structures needed to deliver the CS strategy, including programme frameworks, governance and cross-functional coordination.
• Oversee planning, tracking and delivery of complex, high-impact initiatives across multiple workstreams.
• Ensure leadership visibility of progress, risks and decision points via structured forums, dashboards and programme updates.
• Define and manage stage gates and performance reporting to keep delivery on track and aligned to outcomes.

Business Operations & Strategic Enablement • Own the operating rhythm for the CS leadership team, including planning cycles, prioritisation forums and follow-up mechanisms.
• Focus leadership attention on the most critical actions, escalate blockers and ensure alignment across teams.
• Drive clarity and accountability by setting clear roles, tracking interdependencies and supporting timely decisions.
• Prepare compelling executive materials that influence at the highest levels.
• Shape and maintain the overarching CS transformation narrative, ensuring initiatives clearly connect to strategic intent.

Chief of Staff Responsibilities • Partner with the VP to manage and align the leadership agenda, ensuring decisions and priorities are executed across the organisation.
• Identify and resolve barriers to effective ways of working, strengthening organisational alignment and efficiency.
• Represent the VP in senior forums, providing succinct and outcome-oriented updates on programme delivery and strategic priorities.
• Plan and facilitate leadership events, offsites and key decision forums, ensuring content and outputs drive meaningful progress.
• Build strong, trust-based relationships with VPs, senior directors and cross-functional leaders to enable collaboration at pace.

Transformation Management • Lead the coordination of business change initiatives that transform CS capabilities across process, people, technology and data that require cross functional teams to be successful,
• Apply structured change management to secure stakeholder buy-in and adoption of new ways of working.

Leadership & Stakeholder Engagement • Lead and develop a high-performing team in programme management, business operations and change delivery.
• Influence and support senior stakeholders, managing across varied and sometimes competing interests.
• Coach and mentor senior programme managers, sharing best practice in managing complex, global initiatives.

Craft Leadership • Actively contribute to the evolution of the crafts across the company by sharing best practices, setting high delivery standards and shaping common frameworks and tools.
• Represent Customer Service within the wider craft community, building connections, fostering knowledge exchange and raising awareness of the function's impact.
• Influence and support the development of craft capability across teams and geographies, helping to create a consistent and high-performing approach to business operations and program and change management company-wide.

Ideal Experience & Skills

• Bachelor's degree in Business or a related field.

• 10+ years of experience in Programme/Project Management and Business Operations, preferably in large-scale Customer Service organizations, with demonstrable impact in driving transformational and operational change.

• Proven ability to deliver highly complex, multi-workstream programs and business change initiatives at a global scale, including both strategic programs and business-as-usual (BAU) priorities.

• Deep knowledge of change management methodologies, operating models, cross-functional coordination, and best practices in governance and program frameworks within customer service domains.

• Expertise in planning cycles, performance and resource management, and facilitating organisational alignment across senior leadership teams.

• Demonstrated experience engaging, coaching, and developing high-performing teams within programme management, business operations, and change management crafts.

• Extensive stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence and collaborate across diverse, senior cross-functional groups (including VPs, craft communities, and external vendors).

• Exceptional analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making abilities, with a record of delivering measurable business outcomes through transformational change.

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, able to prepare and deliver executive-level presentations, facilitate senior leadership forums, and cascade messaging through the organization.

• Track record of contributing to craft leadership and community impact: sharing and implementing best practices, coaching/mentoring, and raising awareness of the function's strategic role within the broader organization.

• Experience in talent and performance management, including collaborating with HR to embed effective talent and review cycles within operational planning.

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.