Strategy & Operations Manager - Trips in London

The Trips Strategy and Operations team works closely with the Trips Leadership team to define strategy and guide the execution of this strategy. As the Strategy & Operations Manager for Ground Transport, you will be responsible for surfacing customer, market, competitor and performance insights to the Ground Transport leadership team and shaping the business unit's strategy. You will then translate this strategy into annual and quarterly goals and ensure that the governance structures and KPIs are in place to execute the strategy effectively. This role may also involve program management activities to coordinate, manage and deliver diverse complex business critical initiatives or lead on high scale and impact changes or transformations.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop Multi-year Strategies & Resolve Strategic Questions
• Lead project(s) to solve complex open-ended strategic challenges
• Scope well structured and effective projects and workstreams (with support)
• Define problems, scope and perform analytical tasks with rigor and objectivity
• Develop, communicate and align recommendations with senior stakeholders (Directors, Sr Directors)
• Identify focus areas, including goals, how to get there, operating model and business cases for new investments (with FP/A)
• Achieve ongoing alignment and buy-in from leadership through frequent consultations
• Understand & Assess Implications of Market, Competitive, Customer and Business Context
• Perform comprehensive assessment of the medium to long-term strategic position of the business topics you own
• Have a deep understanding of historical and future trends - like competition, consumers, competitors, regulations, technology changes
• Understand major implications and articulate risks & opportunities arising out of such trends
• Operationalize Strategy
• Lead development of operational plans from strategic priorities (with support if needed)
• 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 (Director and above) in understanding inefficiencies in strategy delivery especially cross-brand / cross-department collaboration
• Craft Contribution
• Positively and proactively contribute towards the craft, including being available to coach others, share best practices or participate in events or projects.
• Support Decision Making by Leadership
• Ensure Leadership Teams (Director and above) are spending time on most important topics & have high quality materials in order to make effective, impactful decisions
• Ensure annual, quarterly & weekly leadership processes (e.g. offsites) are effective at connecting strategy, leadership decisions and downstream execution

Required skillset

• 4-8 years of relevant experience in generalist roles dealing with senior stakeholders, such as in-house strategy, chief-of-staff, consulting, finance
• Strategic Thinking
• Is able to break down open-ended business problems into multiple core issues, and define analysis needed to solve those issues
• Has a good understanding (or desire to learn) of Booking and the travel / OTA industry (consumer preferences, competition etc.)
• Is highly proficient with the tools & techniques needed to perform complex analytical tasks for their scope of work
• Demonstrate ability to think creatively and connect the dots
• Communication
• Fluent in English (written and verbal)
• Has ability to craft persuasive narratives with limited support
• Is a highly effective & clear presenter, and can effectively adapt style to their audience
• Is a highly effective communicator who is credible & trusted by senior audiences and a strong facilitator of medium groups (6-15)
• Is a strong influencer in all groups up to Director level and productively interacts with Sr Director and VP level
• Impact & Delivery
• Can independently manage a project(s) on their own
• Has ability to manage and influence stakeholders at all levels of the organization, including senior management (Dirs/Senior Dirs) with competing priorities
• Can lead cross functional collaboration in a highly matrix and complex environment
• Leadership & Development
• Can influence broader strategy & vision (beyond own project)
• Demonstrates good judgment and can be a trusted, credible advisor to leadership (Dirs & above)
• Demonstrated ability to mentor & support junior team members
• Ability & commitment to learn fast and adapt to a fast moving environment

Benefits & Perks: Global Impact, Personal Relevance

Booking.com's total rewards philosophy is not only about compensation but also about benefits. Our rewards are aimed at making it easier for you to experience all that life has to offer - all the messy, beautiful, and joyful bits - on your terms. So you can focus on what really matters. We offer competitive compensation as well as thoughtful, valuable, and even fun benefits which include:

• A great, brand new office in the heart of Manchester
• Free breakfast and lunch
• 25 days' paid holiday plus bank holidays (rising to 28 days after 3 years of service)
• Health & well-being benefits such as mental health support, access to health insurance, etc.
• Employer contribution pension
• Industry-leading parental leave and adoption leave
• Great discounts on accommodation, car rentals and other group benefits
• From day one of your employment with us, we offer 22 weeks' fully paid leave for all new parents, regardless of gender or the way you become a parent
• Carer's leave: 10 days' fully paid leave per year for colleagues who are caring for ill family members.
• Hybrid Working (UK): We believe in office attendance at least 40% of your time whilst empowering you with the flexibility to plan where to do your best work.

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.