Senior Managing Counsel, Commercial, BKNG Fintech Legal

About the Position

Booking Holdings (NASDAQ: BKNG), a leader in online travel and services, is seeking a Senior Managing Counsel to lead legal support for Fintech Commercial Partnerships across its brands in the US. This role partners closely with Booking Holdings Fintech Commercial Partnership teams on a cross‑brand portfolio spanning payments, financial services, and critical third‑party regulatory technology partnerships. Hybrid work model: Two days in‑office.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the negotiation, drafting, and execution of complex, high‑value partnerships with financial institutions, payment networks, fintech providers, and strategic technology partners.
• Act as a single point of contact for the US Fintech Commercial Partnership teams, advising on priority commercial initiatives and escalations.
• Design pragmatic legal strategies and risk mitigations for new commercial models and product‑linked partnership initiatives.
• Support establishment of global contracting frameworks, risk allocation models, and compliance with internal policies and controls.
• Drive high standards for drafting, negotiation, and risk calibration, and promote collaboration and knowledge sharing across brands.
• Manage external counsel and scopes of work in line with business priorities and budget.

Required Experience

• Qualified lawyer with 8+ years’ PQE (or equivalent), with a mix of in‑house and big‑firm experience.
• Law degree from a top law school and excellent academic credentials.
• License to practice in New York.
• Exceptional drafting and negotiation skills with a track record of leading high‑stakes, complex commercial negotiations.
• Extensive experience advising on fintech, payments, financial services, and global commercial transactions.
• Strong understanding of regulations covering payments, fintech, money transmission, EMI/PI frameworks, lending/BNPL, AML/CTF, fraud, sanctions, crypto/virtual assets, and data‑driven financial services.
• Demonstrated ability to influence senior executives and drive decisions in a matrixed, global organization.
• Experience managing global stakeholder inputs and formulating balanced views across diverse perspectives.

Preferred Experience

• In‑house legal experience at a global technology, fintech, or payments organization.
• Hands‑on legal advisory support embedded in business teams, working closely with product and commercial functions.

Competencies

• Influence stakeholders at all organizational levels.
• Proactive, resilient, and results‑driven with sound judgment.
• Ability to see the big picture while attending to essential details.
• Courage to take positions and make tough judgment calls.
• Aggressive drafting precision and negotiation excellence.
• Manage complexity and ambiguity, prioritize workloads, meet deadlines.
• Forward thinking with an interest in emerging legal and policy issues.
• Global mindset and ability to lead through complexity.

Salary and Benefits

Base salary range for the Connecticut and NYC‑metro area is $224,600 - $274,600. Eligible for a competitive annual bonus and equity grant. Benefits include health, wellness, and other perks such as tuition reimbursement, fitness reimbursement, and discounts.

EEO Statement

Booking Holdings is an equal opportunity employer in accordance with all applicable federal, state and local laws. We ensure equal employment opportunity to all employees and applicants without discrimination or harassment based on race, religious creed, color, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, marital status, medical condition, disability, military service, pregnancy or any other classification protected by law. Booking Holdings extends this policy to every phase of the employment process including recruitment, selection, placement, training, promotion, compensation, and all other conditions of employment. Booking Holdings and its Affiliated Companies are employers for all qualifying job seekers, including disabled veterans. For reasonable accommodations, contact View email address on click.appcast.io.