Role Description:
About Booking Holdings
Booking Holdings (NASDAQ: BKNG) is the world's leading provider of online travel and related services, provided to consumers and local partners in more than 220 countries and territories through five primary consumer-facing brands: Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK and OpenTable. The mission of Booking Holdings is to make it easier for everyone to experience the world. For more information, visit BookingHoldings.com and follow us on X (formerly known as Twitter) @BookingHoldings.
About the role
The Director of Procurement Marketing Services is a key leadership role within the Global Procurement Organization, directly reporting to the Global CPO. This position is responsible for end-to-end strategic procurement leadership of critical global categories such as performance marketing, media, creative, sponsorships, advertising, digital marketing, seo, market research, PR. The Director is accountable for developing and executing the Procurement vision and category strategies (for their team) that drives the most optimal procurement solutions to help the business grow, reduce risk and to help manage the costs in line with best in class solutions. They will need to manage the procurement process in a way that both adds value to the business and reduces the burden of the procurement process on key stakeholders. They will work with all brands/functions globally to strategically source and proactively manage BHI spend with a focus on added value.This role will be the global subject matter and the market expert, building frameworks, partnerships, and use technology stacks that empower our brands to thrive. The role manages a category portfolio of ~€5-6B in annual spend across brands and oversees procurement projects driving cost efficiency, innovation, supplier collaboration, and risk mitigation.
This Includes
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Ensuring strategic cost excellence: providing optimal service and quality for the lowest cost and focusing on ongoing cost containment
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Acting as a change agent to improve processes for increased velocity and effectiveness, ensure compliance to Procurement Policies, and manage supplier performance - including encouraging innovation.
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Driving superior sourcing, supplier development and management, supplier business reviews, category management, and risk management expertise in BHI key spend
This role will also be responsible for developing people and talent in their Tower with a focus on added value and building a best-in-class procurement function for sustained savings, velocity, and competitive advantage. As such, this role will be a key member of the PLT (Procurement Leadership team) and will play an important role in the development of the overall Procurement vision and strategies, talent management, and processes.
This position requires deep expertise in the areas of Marketing / marketing procurement and the ability to swiftly work collaboratively with senior stakeholders and external partners in a complex matrix environment. This role will manage the VP/ SVP relationships at the company.
Responsibilities:
People and team management and development:
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Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing global team of senior managers and category leads
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Foster a culture of performance, velocity, and collaboration across the procurement organization
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Develop and build capability within their procurement scope (and beyond) to develop a highly effective team of professionals that can sustain value creation across Booking Holdings for the long term
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Retaine, hire, develop top talent throughout seniority levels
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In coordination with HR and the PLT, provide training and development opportunities
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Bring a cross-functional perspective to the team
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Lead change management efforts related to our strategy and transformation change in support of the strategic and operational objectives of the enterprise
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Drive strategic cost optimization efforts through process improvements, contractual efficiencies and elimination of wasteful spending
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Drive a cost-conscious approach and work with the business to continuously identify and drive value generation initiatives
Category leadership & strategy
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Own and continuously evolve global category strategies for their portfolio
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Ensure that the category and the sourcing strategies are in line to deliver Best in Class KPI’s (across cost, service, delivery, and risk mgmt) and that they deliver the necessary solutions into the business
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Ensure that the right governance is put in place with the leadership of the spend areas across all the brands to ensure that the team has the information that they need, that we understand the functional strategies, and that we are communicating the deliverables and project status
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Lead the development of multi-year sourcing roadmaps for relevant categories
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Ensure category plans embed ESG, innovation, total cost of ownership (TCO), and supplier diversity principles
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Align category strategies with broader enterprise transformation, workforce trends, and sustainability goals
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Lead the effective implementation of the overall Tower program including, integration, and execution of Procurement and Sourcing’s organizational strategic and tactical plan initiatives.
Strategic Sourcing & Project Delivery
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Oversee the execution of complex sourcing projects, ensuring transparency, competitiveness, and compliance.
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Sponsor cross-border procurement programs and initiatives delivering measurable P&L impact
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Set negotiation strategies and provide commercial governance for high-value, complex global contracts
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Ensure the right risk management strategies have been applied to all sourcing initiatives including legal, and TPRM tracks
Contracting & commercial negotiations
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Negotiate and manage complex contracts
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Ensure adherence to compliance, ethical standards, and IP protection
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Proactively address risk allocation and liability limitations in commercial agreements
Supplier Relationship Management
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Establish and govern a rigorous supplier relationship management (SRM) program, defining clear Key Performance Indicators and performance scorecards to ensure our strategic partners deliver continuous
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Establish the right roster of strategic vendors and help manage the communication with the strategic vendors together with the business
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Drive innovation and continuous improvement with strategic partners
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Establish governance frameworks for high-value and strategic supplier relationships
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Resolve high-risk escalations and manage contractual and reputational risks proactively
Executive Stakeholder Management & Collaboration
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Own the relationship and reporting into the stakeholders, including conflict resolution and supplier management
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Provide strategic consulting and analytic perspective to executive management and key business stakeholders on procurement strategies and risks.
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Manage senior-level relationships internally and externally to ensure alignment of procurement goals with business priorities, including with the support functions.
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Collaborate with the business to continuously optimise spend in light of evolving business requirements and improve the procurement process
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Provide regular reporting and insights to stakeholders on supplier performance, risk, and procurement KPIs
Budget Optimization & ROI
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Develop a good understanding of the key cost drivers in the business, and a good understanding of the budgets
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Support budget planning and monitor marketing spend efficiency
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Track and report P&L savings including procurement-driven value creation (e.g., cost avoidance,value-added services, innovation pipeline)
Skills & Requirements
Master’s degree in Procurement, Marketing, Business Administration, Finance or a related field
(MBA preferred)
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Minimum 12-15 years of progressive leadership experience in Procurement, Strategic Sourcing, or Category Management, with at least 5 years focused in Marketing, within complex, multinational, digitally-driven environments (e.g., online retail, tech, digital, vendor base)
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Proven track record in managing diverse teams of experienced buyers and leading multifunctional teams across regions
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Demonstrated leadership in other related functions (either in sales or marketing), Operations and/or Strategy Groups to bring a well-rounded perspective to the team.
Technical & Functional Skills
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Strong knowledge of the Marketing spend categories
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Strong analytical, financial acumen, and commercial negotiation skills
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Expertise in the sourcing process, category strategies, SRM, negotiation strategies.
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Familiarity with eSourcing tools (e.g., iValua, Coupa), contract management platforms, and procurement analytics solutions. Knowledge of AI technologies.
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Proficiency in supplier performance and lifecycle management
Soft Skills
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Exceptional leadership, influencing, and stakeholder engagement capabilities
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Entrepreneurial orientation and abilities - An individual who can function effectively and drive desired results in a fluid, fast-moving and competitive business environment characterized by rapid change.
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Excellent relationship management skills (e.g. peers, executive management, colleagues and customers ).
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Strong business acumen and ability to bring a macro perspective to business opportunities.
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Highly motivated and self-directed individual who is tenacious in her/his methodology.
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Has the ability to make informed decisions with incomplete data sets, and demonstrates a bias for action and strong sense of urgency.
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Has high level of learning agility, especially comfortable with and willing to learn new technologies
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Proven execution skills – An individual who can successfully execute against their strategy alongside other groups. This will require the individual to develop the technical competence and interpersonal skills necessary to work collaboratively with others outside his/her direct team.
Why This Role Matters
This is a mission-critical role that connects global marketing strategy with enterprise-wide procurement excellence. As a trusted advisor to the CPO and key executive partners, the Director will play a leading role in shaping the future of the company’s employee experience, cost base, and ESG commitments.
