Director of Software Engineering, Loyalty, Incentives & Ads Tech - Marketplace

Join to apply for the Director of Software Engineering, Loyalty, Incentives & Ads Tech - Marketplace role at Booking.com.

About Marketplace

Marketplace owns the overall traveler experience. They truly understand traveler behavior across multiple verticals and are responsible for defining and achieving our product vision.

The Marketplace Business Unit drives travelers into the right vertical funnel at the right time and increases connected trip (multi‑vertical) transactions as well as traveler loyalty through Genius. Marketplace manages the common parts of our website and app, provides product capabilities required across BUs, and sets common product standards.

The Loyalty, Incentives and Ads tech area has a diverse portfolio. A primary aspect focuses on driving traveler loyalty and value through the Genius loyalty program and commercial incentives that extend across the Connected Trip, while owning the traveler identity foundation that powers recognition and benefits delivery. The Identity platform owns the Identity stack (accounts), Personal Profile, Session & Identification to enable consistent login, recognition, and status/benefit delivery across surfaces. The Genius Traveller and Plus areas are responsible for loyal guests in levels 1, 2, and 3, as well as our global programs and benefits catering to our most highly valuable and loyal customers. Additionally, the area covers Connected Trip Benefits, White Label Packages, and Sustainability. Ads Tech is responsible for Sponsored Listings and Native Display advertising. The portfolio has significant dependencies, both business and technology related, across almost the full landscape of Booking.com, with significant collaboration and coordination required with each of the BUs. We are looking for a technology leader to lead this portfolio, partnering with the Data and Product leaders to deliver on our ambition for the Connected Trip. The person in this role will need to drive delivery and evolve the capabilities of this area.

Responsibilities

• Develop a deep partnership with senior Technology, Data, and Product leadership to map out the long‑term technology vision, strategy, and roadmap.
• Define and develop the operating model for the team that links clearly to and delivers against the strategic objectives of the BU and Booking.com.
• Build a sustainable, high‑performance organization.
• Lead, inspire, and motivate the team, setting clear expectations and providing ownership and clarity as needed.
• Ensure that future technology investments and capabilities are widely socialized, understood, prioritized, and aligned so they are built effectively into medium‑to‑long‑term planning horizons.
• Communicate strategy in a compelling manner to multiple teams and stakeholders.
• Create a learning environment through coaching, two‑way feedback, and sharing personal learnings, while supporting teams to constantly adapt.
• Foster the engineering culture; innovate, work as a team, and celebrate success.
• Build a world‑class team by nurturing, attracting, and retaining tech talent from around the world.
• Lead, influence, and own delivery within your function, including department goals.
• Maintain focus on the end goal, minimize risk, and remove roadblocks for our strategic agenda.
• Foster mastery in engineering craftsmanship across Booking.com, shaping ways of working.
• Own technology‑wide topics and help lead and grow the department.
• Identify problems and significantly improve, change, or adapt existing methods and techniques drawing from personal experiences and feedback.
• Shape, define, and build new services, processes, and operational plans aligned with the commercial and financial needs of the business.
• Make decisions in complex and ambiguous situations, guiding others with data, multiple perspectives, and challenge assumptions.
• Ensure that the Booking architecture principles and engineering practices are adhered to, and that direction and alignment exist for each product.
• Anticipate the need for changes based on context, set renewed courses of action, engage teams, and achieve goals while making the impact clear and understandable.

Ideal Experience & Skills

• Deep technical experience in Software Engineering.
• Tech leadership experience with a demonstrated history of building, shaping, and leading a cross‑functional Engineering function.
• Industry experience at fast‑moving, innovative global technology companies.
• Experience operating large, Internet‑scale applications and distributed systems spanning multiple languages, platforms, front‑ and back‑end services, networks, and public cloud platforms (AWS).
• Deep understanding of technology, with a proven track record of designing and building platforms at scale.
• Able to provide technical direction to the teams (driving tech strategy, making build‑vs‑buy decisions, prioritizing, etc.).
• Demonstrable expertise in leading in Agile environments and fostering an Agile culture and ethos.
• Demonstrable experience of setting, leading, and influencing both the Engineering and Business strategy for the medium and long‑term.
• Experience managing and coaching teams of senior tech leaders, including building and growing teams.

Other Personal Characteristics

• Open‑minded, learning attitude, transparent behavior, positive, overachiever, strong communicator, proactive, and collaborative.
• Strategic thinker yet focused on execution; able to roll up sleeves and get things done.
• Ability to function in a fast‑moving entrepreneurial environment.
• Data‑driven, experiment‑oriented, ready to learn and open to change.
• Keeping the customer at the center of everything you do.
• Good cultural and organizational sensitivity.
• Committed to building a diverse and inclusive work environment.

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.