Principal Program Manager (Orchestration Lead)

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 Description:

Connected Trip is Booking.com’s ambition to transform separate travel bookings into one connected experience, bringing together product, data, AI, commercial propositions and customer support across the entire journey. As an Orchestration Lead, your role is aligned with the Principal Program Manager career level at Booking.com. You will be the strategic and operational partner to the Connected Trip Product Vice President and leadership team, at the centre of one of the company’s most important cross-company programmes. You will help shape critical portfolio choices, align senior leaders across travel verticals and business functions, and turn strategic ambition into coordinated execution and measurable results. This is an opportunity to combine executive-level influence with hands-on leadership, shaping how Booking.com delivers seamless end-to-end travel experiences, deepens customer engagement and unlocks commercial growth at scale.

Key Job Responsibilities and Duties: 

• Align the leadership team around a shared Connected Trip and Connected Growth ambition, strategic narrative, measurable goals and portfolio priorities.

• Orchestrate one integrated portfolio across travel verticals and business functions; make dependencies, capacity constraints and trade-offs visible, and recommend what to accelerate, defer, stop or redirect.

• Anticipate what the portfolio needs next through a rolling view of releases, stage gates and launches, surfacing readiness gaps, risks and decisions in time to act.

• Co-lead executive governance and translate complex workstream information into decision-ready options, explicit trade-offs and data-backed recommendations, ensuring consistent follow-through.

• Maintain programme-level commercial and financial oversight, partnering with Finance and business leaders to track the business case, investment choices, expected returns and emerging financial risks or opportunities.

• Drive value from priority end-to-end journeys, ensuring shared foundations and cross-functional launch readiness translate into adoption, customer experience and commercial impact, not just technical delivery.

• Evolve the portfolio as evidence changes, using customer and business performance, stakeholder feedback and market developments to sharpen priorities and keep the programme focused on its highest-value outcomes.

Qualifications & Skills:

• 15+ years of experience leading complex, cross-functional programmes or portfolios in large, matrixed organisations.

• Proven ability to align senior leaders around a shared strategy and turn ambiguity into clear portfolio priorities and measurable outcomes across multiple delivery horizons.

• Strong judgement in fast-moving, ambiguous environments, with the ability to act on incomplete information, anticipate risks and escalate decisively when needed.

• Credibility and influence with VP-level leaders and senior stakeholders across product, technology and business functions, building trust and resolving ambiguity without relying on formal authority.

• Executive-level communication skills, with the ability to create concise narratives that connect strategy, progress and impact to decisions and next steps.

• Strong customer and commercial judgement, grounded in end-to-end experiences, adoption, retention, partner value and competitive dynamics.

• Financial fluency across business cases, investment choices, budget and P&L implications, expected returns and value realisation.

• Experience designing practical governance, decision forums and leadership routines that create visibility, accountability and follow-through.

Benefits & Perks: Global Impact, Personal Relevance

• 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, multi-faith and breastfeeding rooms at the office

• Commuting allowance and bike reimbursement scheme

• Discounts & 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, free Headspace membership

DEI: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Booking.com

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) 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 create a unique workplace, it also creates a better and more inclusive travel experience for everyone.”

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable adjustments to participate in the interview process. Please contact us to request adjustments.

Application Process

• The interview process will entail an initial call with one of our Recruiters, and a total of 3 interviews, all conducted via Zoom video conferencing.

• This role does not come with relocation assistance.

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.

Pre-Employment Screening