The posting
About Us: At Booking.com, data drives our decisions. Technology is at our core. And innovation is everywhere. But our company is more than datasets, lines of code or A/B tests. We’re the thrill of the first night in a new place. The excitement of the next morning. 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.
Role Overview :
The Cloud & Platform Ecosystems group strives to enable the use of AWS as part of our Connected Cloud, empowering teams to leverage the full potential of Public Cloud — minimizing abstraction layers while fostering acceleration and innovation while providing low latency experiences for customers of Booking.com.
Group Technical Program Managers have demonstrated experience leading teams that lead large cross-organizational software development projects, and have a deep technical background, ideally within enterprise software companies, platform and shared technology experience, and working with regulatory and compliance best practices. They must be able to thrive and succeed in an entrepreneurial environment, and not be hindered by ambiguity or competing priorities. This means they are not only able to develop and drive high-level strategic initiatives, but can also roll up their sleeves, dig in, and help drive change. An ability to take large, complex projects and break them down into manageable pieces, develop functional specifications, then deliver them in a successful and timely manner is expected. They should be entrepreneurial, innovative individuals who thrive on solving tough problems. This is a high visibility role and maturity, high judgment, negotiation skills, ability to influence, analytical talent, and leadership skills are essential to success in this role.
This role manages a team of ~8-10 people (including 1 IC contractor) and is responsible for setting clear direction, fostering a collaborative and high-performance culture, encouraging professional development and growth, and promoting a positive and inclusive work environment.
This role can be based out of Manchester, UK or Amsterdam, Netherlands
Key Job Responsibilities and Duties :
Your day to day will be dynamic and diverse, but will focus on leading your team to drive and deliver cross department initiatives that span infrastructure tooling and platform development to supporting onboarding and change management initiatives.
Manage the Technical Program Management Team.
- Set clear direction for the team, translating department and portfolio priorities into practical programs, objectives, roles, expectations and near-term focus.
- Provide regular one-to-one support, coaching and feedback, helping each team member remove blockers, make sound decisions and grow their impact.
- Own performance management for direct reports, including goal setting, continuous feedback, development planning, calibration and performance improvement where required.
- Build and maintain a healthy, inclusive and high-performing team culture based on trust, accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement.
- Create an environment in which team members can operate with appropriate autonomy while receiving timely support,challenge and escalation when needed.
- Lead continuous improvement of the team’s ways of working, using delivery insight, team feedback and outcome data to improve predictability, quality and business impact.
Active member of the Cloud & Platform Ecosystems Leadership Team
- As a member of the Cloud & Platform Ecosystems Leadership team you will be responsible for collaborating with Directors, Senior Directors, Architects, Principal and Group level leaders in crafting the strategy and direction of the Cloud & Platform Ecosystems department. This may include orchestrating and managing annual and quarterly planning, bootstrapping programs when needed, and contributing to general department priorities.
- Build strong relationships across the business, communicate strategy and progress clearly, and effectively manage stakeholder expectations, including senior leadership.
Manage Technical Program Management Quality, Capacity, and Operating Rhythm
- Responsible for the quality of reporting being delivered by the Technical Program Management team. As the team and craft lead, you are responsible for ensuring that initiative and program reporting distributed via Monthly Business Reviews, Steer Co meetings, and general program updates embody a high level of quality, accuracy, and timeliness.
- Working with the Cloud & Platform Ecosystems Leadership Team, allocate and rebalance TPM team capacity across programmes and initiatives, ensuring high priority initiatives and programs are appropriately staffed.
- Establish effective team operating rhythms, including team meetings, one-to-ones, programme reviews, planning sessions, retrospectives and regular communication of priorities and decisions.
Drive strategic programs and relationships in support of the Cloud & Platform Ecosystems group
- Primary point of contact with AWS and GCP with regard to operational delivery and relationship management, direct ownership of program and portfolio management of relationship with these key cloud providers and critical third party vendors.
- Responsible for strategic learning & enablement programs in support of Cloud adoption.
Contribute to the Technical Program Management Craft across Core Platforms, Central Tech, and the Tech community at large.
- Support recruitment, selection, onboarding and retention of Technical Program Managers
- Develop the TPM craft within the team by sharing best practices, reviewing approaches, encouraging peer learning and creating opportunities for mentoring and stretch assignments.
- Partner closely with engineering, product and operational leaders to ensure the team operates with clear accountability and effective collaboration across organisational boundaries.
Role Qualifications and Requirements
- 10+ years in Technical Program Management with enterprise level delivery experience, including 3+ years directly managing and developing talent.
- Strong communication, storytelling, and presence, with the ability to represent program value, status, and risks credibly in senior stakeholder and cross-functional forums.
- Strong ability to operate effectively in high-ambiguity, cross-functional environments with broad stakeholder landscapes and competing priorities.
- Significant experience working with cross-functional technical teams and business units to design, develop and deliver large-scale systems, platforms or technology solutions.
- Strong experience driving the definition and creation of program documentation and best practices to deliver complex, outcomes based, technical roadmaps and associated collateral for infrastructure platforms.
- Proven experience (2+ years) leading and developing Technical Program Managers, with a strong track record of coaching, mentoring, and raising the bar on technical program craft.
- Strong organisational and execution skills, including the ability to manage risks, dependencies, trade-offs, and multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
- Technical Fluency: Ability to bridge complex engineering platforms—including containerized compute (BKS), network infrastructure, and LLM architectures and ensure
Benefits & Perks - Global Impact, Personal Relevance:
Booking.com’s Total Rewards Philosophy is not only about compensation but also about benefits. We offer a competitive compensation and benefits package, as well unique-to-Booking.com benefits which include:
- Annual paid time off and generous paid leave scheme including: parent, grandparent, bereavement, and care leave
- Hybrid working including flexible working arrangements, and up to 20 days per year working from abroad (home country)
- Industry leading product discounts - up to 1400 per year - for yourself, including automatic Genius Level 3 status and Booking.com wallet credit
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) at Booking.com:
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion have been a core part of our company culture since day one. This ongoing journey starts with our very own employees, who represent over 140 nationalities and a wide range of ethnic and social backgrounds, genders and sexual orientations.
Take it from our Chief People Officer, Paulo Pisano: “At Booking.com, the diversity of our people doesn’t just build an outstanding workplace, it also creates a better and more inclusive travel experience for everyone. Inclusion is at the heart of everything we do. It’s a place where you can make your mark and have a real impact in travel and tech.”
We ensure that colleagues with disabilities are provided the adjustments and tools they need to participate in the job application and interview process, to perform crucial job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.
Application Process:
This role does not come with relocation assistance.
- Application and CV Review
- Recruitment Phone Screen
- Business Interview 1
- Business Interview 2
- FIT Interview
- Hiring Decision
Let’s go places together: How we Hire
Booking.com is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. We strive to move well beyond traditional equal opportunity and work to create an environment that allows everyone to thrive.
