Flights Operations Lead

Flights Operations 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.

Leadership/Team Quote: We began by taking hotel bookings online over 20 years ago, and we've been shaping the travel industry ever since. Today, we're building a platform that connects all parts of the trip - from accommodation to transport, flights, tickets, tours and much more!

Our Trips Business Unit helps people get where they want to go, anywhere in the world. Whether customers want the freedom of a car, the convenience of a flight, the ease of a taxi or the economy of public transport, we make it all possible.

Our team is passionate about helping people travel. They see challenges as opportunities. And they're always ready for change.

Role Description: A trip usually starts with a flight. The Flights team's mission is to offer a wide selection of flights, great value for money and the easiest end-to-end booking experience. We partner with our Strategic partner Etraveli Group to make our mission a reality and have high-reaching goals over the next years.

The Flights Operations Lead owns the end-to-end Customer Service operation across Flights, acting as the connective tissue between Flights, Booking.com CS and supplier CS to drive a best-in-class customer experience at scale. They will monitor and improve performance and cost, lead SLA governance, resolve operational risks and issues, embed sustainable processes, lead on new projects and initiatives and drive knowledge management and tooling to support growth and quality. The role will report to the Product Operations Manager based in Amsterdam and be part of our Operations Track.

Key Job Responsibilities and Duties:

• Own all customer service topics, initiatives, and performance between Flights, internal functions, and suppliers, acting as the primary escalation point and day-to-day accountable owner.
• Monitor, analyze, and continuously improve CS performance and cost by setting targets, surfacing drivers, and implementing product/process fixes to reduce contacts, retail loss, and performance drivers.
• Act as the main point of contact and bridge between Flights, Booking.com CS, and supplier CS, managing governance, aligning priorities, and enforcing performance and SLA management through regular reviews and corrective action plans.
• Establish end-to-end visibility and controls to support and uphold the refund experience, improving throughput and reducing unassigned/orphan refunds.
• Identify operational inefficiencies by mapping processes, removing handoffs, automating where possible, and translating operational needs into agent capability requirements (tooling, training, and knowledge updates).
• Manage structured triage, prioritization, and resolution for incidents and defects, ensuring clear communications, timely mitigations, and the upkeep of operational knowledge bases and runbooks.
• Own executive complaint triage and supplier/B.com escalation paths, reducing repeat patterns through systemic fixes, and reviewing/improving customer communications across all channels.

• Significant experience in SLA governance, vendor/BPO management, and cross-company coordination to drive performance impact.
• Demonstrated change management and process improvement expertise; able to design processes, implement at scale, and embed BAU ownership.
• Data-driven decision maker, proficient with operational analytics to size problems, set targets, and validate outcomes.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills with the ability to influence across Product, CS, Finance, Legal/Compliance, and supplier leadership.
• Comfortable leading incident/issue management, root cause analyses, and prevention plans.
• Exceptional communication and documentation skills, able to summarize complex information and present clearly (written and verbal).

• Annual paid time off and generous paid leave scheme including: parent, grandparent, bereavement, and care leave
• Hybrid working including flexible working arrangements, and up to 20 days per year working from abroad (home country)
• Industry leading product discounts - up to 1400 per year - for yourself, including automatic Genius Level 3 status and Booking.com wallet credit

• Let's go places together: How we Hire
• Detailed instructions on post-application requirements including any required application materials, deadlines, portfolios, coding challenges, or other assessments as defined by BU or department.
• This role does not come with relocation assistance.