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.

Job Summary

BHFS is looking for a Legal and Regulatory Counsel with a deep understanding of payments and strong experience in financial services regulation and stakeholder engagement. This role will report to the Legal Director of BHFSI and will be instrumental in helping to develop, launch and enable our mission to deliver a world-class payments operation to support our global brands.

The selected candidate will have the chance to witness first-hand the investment in digital technology that helps take the friction out of travel and paying for travel. As you do so, you will advise on a range of legal matters related to payments and financial services regulation impacting BHFS and other brands within the Booking Holdings Group (“BKNG”).

Key Responsibilities

Act as a critical partner and trusted advisor to our business to ensure compliance with applicable financial services law and regulation and best practices (PSD2, EMD2, AML/CTF, consumer protection).
Draft, review and negotiate a wide range of third party contracts including customer facing, merchant acquiring and vendor contracts (taking into consideration Outsourcing and DORA requirements).
Provide practical and actionable legal advice on a variety of regulated products and services and exercise legal judgement and commercial acumen in assessing and mitigating legal and regulatory risks.
Work closely with legal advisers at other BKNG brands to coordinate legal support across different specialisms and areas (including regulatory, commercial contracts, data privacy and tax).
Coordinate with appropriate outside counsel on a range of legal and regulatory issues.
Provide legal support for corporate governance matters, board resolutions and company secretarial tasks.
Apply a solutions oriented approach to legal advice and adapt to changes in the business environment.
Collaborate and build relationships with cross-functional teams including Compliance, Risk, Finance and procurement across BHFS and BKNG, ensuring our advice aligns with strategic objectives and fostering positive working relationships.
Communicate effectively, both in written and verbal forms, to convey legal concepts to non-legal stakeholders and external parties in a simple, direct and easy to understand manner
Assist in building a best-in-class legal team by developing tools, templates and procedures and working with stakeholders to ensure efficient processes.
Develop and deliver training to legal and business teams across BKNG on legal, regulatory and payments matters.

Knowledge and Skills

Excellent academic credentials with a mix of in-house and big law firm experience preferred.
5-8 years experience in a similar role
Knowledge and demonstrable experience of compliance with Payments and Financial Services law, regulation and best practice in the EEA (PSD2, EMD2, consumer protection, outsourcing, financial crime etc). Experience in other jurisdictions is a plus.
Experience and understanding of the payments ecosystem.
Experience in providing legal and regulatory advice to multiple stakeholders on the design and management of payment and financial services products and delivery channels across a range of jurisdictions (with a focus on the EEA), for the full product lifecycle.
Experience in drafting, negotiating and advising on customer facing contracts.
Ability to proactively identify associated risks and recommend mitigation strategies, acting as a critical partner to the business.
Demonstrable business judgement, excellent interpersonal and stakeholder management skills and ability to collaborate with multiple stakeholders to drive projects to completion.
Ability to tolerate change and apply judgment where there is ambiguity in the law.
Creative thinker with strong problem-solving skills and the ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment, handle multiple assignments simultaneously and effectively manage conflicting priorities.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills as well as organisational and project management skills.
Ability to work collaboratively in a team environment as well as on own initiative.
Positive attitude, high level of integrity and intellectual curiosity.

Booking Holdings Financial Services International Ltd. is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to inclusion in the workplace. We are committed to treating all employees equally, regardless of gender, civil status, family status, sexual orientation, religious belief, age, disability, race or membership of the traveler community.

This policy extends to every phase of the employment process including, but not limited to, recruitment, selection, placement, transfer, training and development, position elimination, restructure, promotion, compensation, benefits, layoffs, termination, and all other conditions or privileges of employment. Booking Holdings Financial Services International Ltd is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and makes hiring decisions based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs at the time.

Legal and Regulatory Counsel

Job Description