Program Manager (For independent contractors)

We are looking for a Planning Lead who will own and deliver Annual Planning for Marketplace — one of Europe's most complex technology departments (1,500+ people, 11 Track Groups). This is a 6-month contract covering a manager on long-term leave, with a hard September start and November submission deadline.

You will lead the end-to-end planning cycle: from kick-off through MPLT portfolio reviews to final CBO budget submission. After Annual Planning, you will lead the retrospective, update the playbook, and help redesign Quarterly Planning. You will operate daily at VP level — holding an entire department accountable to shared timelines, quality standards, and decisions.

Key Responsibilities

Annual Planning (Sep–Nov):

• Own and deliver the 2027 Annual Planning cycle from kick-off to leadership sign-off and CBO submission

  
  

• Lead MPLT planning sessions — design agendas, facilitate alignment, drive portfolio trade-off decisions

  
  

• Manage cross-departmental dependencies as single point of accountability across 11 Track Groups

  
  

• Ensure Jira is configured as source of truth for all planning artefacts

  
  

• Coordinate with CBO, FP&A, and peer departments on timelines, requirements, and submissions

  
  

Retro & Quarterly Planning (Dec–Feb):

• Lead the Annual Planning retrospective and update the playbook for future cycles

  
  

• Support the redesign of Quarterly Planning — connecting it seamlessly to Annual Planning

  
  

• Leave behind playbooks, templates, and governance frameworks that outlast the engagement

Qualifications & Skills

• 8+ years in programme management, strategic planning, or operational leadership in Product & Tech

  
  

• End-to-end ownership of large-scale planning or transformation (200+ people) — designed and delivered, not just contributed

  
  

• Programme governance: designing governance for complex, multi-stakeholder programmes with clear accountability and decision rights

  
  

• VP/Director-level stakeholder management in a matrix environment — can hold senior leaders accountable

  
  

• Structured executive communication: can run a leadership session and distill complexity into decisions

  
  

• Delivery under time pressure with hard deadlines, competing stakeholders, and ambiguity

  
  

• Cross-functional coordination across 5+ teams — can break stalemates and force decisions

  
  

• Tooling at governance level (Jira or equivalent): configuration, dashboards, quality standards

Preferred

• Booking.com experience (former employee or contractor)

  
  

• Business Operations or Strategy & Operations background

  
  

• OKR frameworks, portfolio management, or investment prioritisation experience

  
  

• Management consulting or business transformation background