Senior Director, BHFS Legal

Company Intro 

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. 

Booking Holdings Financial Services (hereinafter “BHFS”) provides financial services in the form of payment services and e-money products across all the brands. BHFS is committed to conducting its business in compliance with applicable laws, regulations and guidelines, with integrity and to the highest ethical standards.

Key Responsibilities

BKNG is looking for an experienced lawyer to oversee the global legal affairs of BHFS. The successful candidate will: 

• Supervise and manage the legal affairs of BHFS across the portfolio of regulated entities and business interests of BHFS in multiple jurisdictions.

• Act as the BHFS Legal lead for the BHFS program, including liaising with brand legal teams to ensure that Brand considerations are included in the BHFS rollout. 

• Provide the Management Team of BHFS, including the Global Chief Executive Officer and local jurisdiction Managing Directors, with an accurate overview and status of legal developments in payments and cross-reference the product ambitions of BHFS. 

• Undertake direct liaison with law firms and other stakeholders to maintain awareness of and interpretation of current legal matters and affairs.

• Monitor the legal affairs strategy and agenda of BHFS globally. 

The responsibilities include: 

• Demonstrating ethical leadership and business integrity as a member of the BHFS global Management Team. 

• Overseeing daily operations across the BHFS enterprise as a key member of the Management Team. 

• Overseeing the BHFS Program from the Legal perspective, including acting as the legal point of contact for Brand legal teams to ensure that Brand considerations are included in the BHFS rollout. 

• Sharing strategic leadership responsibilities with the Management Team, legal entity boards and other strategic managers as appropriate, and ensuring staff are adequately deployed. 

• Engaging and communicating effectively with colleagues within BHFS and BKNG Brands, suppliers, regulators and other internal and external stakeholders. 

• Evaluating complex flows (funds, value, data, relationships) etc. against regulatory regimes. 

• Researching, reviewing, assessing and defining external (legal & regulatory) expectations for business products and operations in this area. 

• Partnering with the business to shape relevant policy & procedure including highlighting risk and opportunities related to the Product roadmap. 

• Advising on the legal and regulatory horizon and alerting the business to relevant requirements, helping the business to map obligations and roadmap responses. 

• Member of the BHFSI Management Team.

Knowledge Skills & Abilities

• Minimum 12 years PQE

•  Ability to translate complex legal and regulatory concepts into accessible terminology, with a clear emphasis on practical, actionable legal advice 

• Strong influencing skills, including the ability to collaborate and problem-solve in a data-driven, international business. 

• Good commercial judgment, solutions-oriented and a creative approach to problem-solving. 

• Comfortable with technology and a strong interest in financial technology and regulatory compliance issues. 

• Experience in managing and growing teams - Payments regulatory experience, including engagement with applicable regulatory bodies. 

• Experience learning new areas of law and regulation in a variety of jurisdictions. 

• Experience in regulatory implementation projects, including regulatory interpretation and working with member associations to exert influence over upcoming legislation. 

• Experience identifying and liaising with local counsel around the globe, identifying suitable partners, commissioning work, challenging deliverables etc 

• A comprehensive understanding of relevant regulatory regimes and of how Payments firms and products interact with these regimes, including: 

• The key legal and regulatory frameworks that cover international money transfer, e-commerce, and online platforms 

• Contract relationships and risk and technology (from a regulatory perspective)

• Experience and understanding of the payments ecosystem (eg. Digital Wallets, Card schemes, virtual credit card products (VCC).  

Required competences 

• Moral leadership 

• Strategic thinking 

• Analytical skills 

• Balanced decision-making 

• Appropriate and adequate legal qualifications to carry out their role 

• Excellent communication skills