Service Assurance Manager

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.

Role Description:

The People Tech Service Assurance Manager is a strategic partner responsible for ensuring strong financial management, operational rigor, and value delivery across the People Tech portfolio. This role oversees the full vendor ecosystem, owns the People Tech budget (OPEX, CAPEX, and Run-Rate), and drives the governance, processes, and insights that enable product and platform teams to deliver reliably and operate efficiently.

The role plays a central part in People Tech's operating rhythm-supporting the tech value chain (Plan, Build, Deliver, Run), governing planning cadences including annual planning, improving cost transparency, and ensuring business and executive stakeholders have accurate, timely reporting. Success requires exceptional collaboration with Product, Platforms, Technical Program Management, Finance, Procurement, People Leadership, and delivery teams to maximize the value of People Tech investments and ensure predictable, high-quality vendor and financial performance.

This role may also play a part in the creation and execution of the strategy, ensuring that the right topics are being worked on. This may include governance and active program and / or portfolio management or leading the change for Booking.com's most complex transformations

Key Job Responsibilities and Duties:

Tech Delivery & Operations Support

• Support People Tech product and platform teams across the full tech value chain (Plan, Build, Deliver, Run), providing principles, playbooks, frameworks, and financial guidance.
• Ensure the right governance mechanisms are in place for planning, execution, delivery assurance, and operational performance.
• Provide visibility and reporting across timelines, risks, dependencies, benefits, outcomes, and performance metrics.
• Partner with People Tech leaders to improve operational maturity, delivery discipline, and cost transparency.

• Develop, maintain, and improve the vendor management framework for People Tech, including performance KPIs, SLAs, governance, and lifecycle processes.
• Partner with product owners-who own the direct vendor relationship-to ensure commercial and operational alignment with business needs.
• Ensure People Tech owns and manages SLAs, performance dashboards, risk assessments, and delivery assurance.
• Drive vendor rationalization, value realization, and continuous improvement across the vendor ecosystem.
• Collaborate with Procurement, Security, Legal, and Finance on RFPs, renewals, contract hygiene, and compliance.

• Own and manage the full People Tech budget (OPEX, CAPEX, Run-Rate), working closely with Finance and product/platform leads.
• Lead annual and quarterly budgeting cycles, financial submissions, and ongoing forecast reviews.
• Monitor actuals vs. plan, analyze variances, and provide leadership with clear, actionable insights and early risk signals.
• Ensure accurate financial controls, PO management, contract value tracking, and spend governance.
• Provide financial reporting, dashboards, and transparency for leadership and stakeholders.

• Increase transparency of People Tech's cost base across platforms, products, and services to identify optimization opportunities.
• Evaluate tech cost performance based on standards, consumption, right-sizing, vendor pricing, and usage patterns.
• Support service cost visibility and internal chargeback models to ensure stakeholders understand cost drivers.
• Recommend cost-reduction actions, efficiency improvements, and value-for-money opportunities.

• Track and report on business outcomes, benefits realization, and value delivered by People Tech initiatives.
• Ensure consistent measurement frameworks and integrate them into planning and delivery cycles.
• Provide evidence-based insights to leadership to support prioritization and portfolio decision-making.

• Provide visibility into resource allocation, capacity, workload distribution, and constraints across product and platform teams.
• Maintain tooling, reporting, and governance to improve planning accuracy and reduce bottlenecks.
• Partner with People Tech leadership to support workforce planning and strategic investment decisions.

• Govern the People Tech Leadership Team (PT LT) cadence and ensure seamless integration with all planning, delivery, and reporting cycles.
• Coordinate Annual Planning and Quarterly Planning, ensuring alignment across roadmaps, financials, resources, and strategic priorities.
• Establish consistent processes, templates, and reporting to maintain clarity, accountability, and predictability across People Tech

• Develop and maintain People Tech reporting across delivery, operational metrics, vendor performance, budget, outcomes, and risks.
• Ensure reports are clear, timely, and actionable for leadership and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Maintain dashboards and tools to support ongoing visibility and decision-making

• Design, implement and/or execute thoughtful, yet simple, processes to increase efficiency and productivity.
• Drive the optimization of business operations by driving adoption of standardized processes across People Tech to increase efficiency and effectiveness while also simplifying where possible.
• In collaboration with People Tech leads, identify and evaluate potential Ops Excellence projects (e.g. creating feedback loops, implementing prioritisation process, increasing customer awareness, what governance process will ensure controls are met ).
• Provide insight and support to other sub departments and tracks on process implementation and improvements.

• Experience in technology operations, vendor management, portfolio/PMO roles, and financial/business management within a tech organization.
• Strong financial acumen, with hands-on experience in budgeting, forecasting, and cost modeling (OPEX/CAPEX/Run-Rate).
• Experience developing governance frameworks, operational processes, and reporting structures.
• Strong analytical mindset with ability to translate data into insights and recommendations, independent thinker with excellent judgement.
• Strong leadership skills, ability to influence and steer leadership and senior management.
• Capable of managing multiple stakeholders with competing priorities.
• Familiarity with SaaS platforms, enterprise systems, cloud service models, and People/HR Tech ecosystems.
• Ability to think strategically and connect dots where others have a limited view; able to identify challenges and opportunities and drive solutions/actions. recommendations and follow up.
• Exemplary role in effective communication, including "embracing change/ growth" mindset. Encourages people to become change agents & embrace change. Explicitly communicates: why change, what will change, how, when, where and whom it impacts (with possible outcomes and costs). Adjusts communication style to the audience to help them understand and accept the change.
• Be a role model of "Succeed Together" Booking.com value. Building and maintain lasting relationships and connections with diverse teams, across the organization and outside.
• Craft skills: Strong process management and problem solving skills including experience with project / change management approaches and phases. Preferably having a solid data and insights analytical skills, comfortable in facilitating effective governance and business as usual initiatives.
• Fluent in English. Superior written and verbal communication skills.

• 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
• This role does not come with relocation assistance.