Senior Customer Service Operations Specialist (For independent contractors)

Booking.com is looking for a senior contractor to shape the Customer Service operating model for Flights. Depending on the strategic priority at the time of engagement, this may involve assessing and optimising an existing operating model, designing new operational architecture from the ground up, or a combination of both.

In either scenario, you will be expected to rapidly understand the landscape, form a credible point of view, and deliver practical outputs - from strategic operating-model recommendations through to detailed service workflows and agent protocols. The common thread is that you are the senior operational anchor: the person who translates complex, multi-party airline CS dynamics into clear designs, recommendations, and executable blueprints that leadership can act on.

This is a highly autonomous individual contributor role. You will operate with limited direction in a fluid environment where the scope may sharpen as you ramp. The expectation is that you can work at both altitudes - "what should our model look like?" and "how does an agent handle this scenario end-to-end?" - and move between them as the engagement requires.

Adaptability to business priorities: This role requires someone who can pivot seamlessly between optimising an existing operating model and designing one from scratch. The business need may evolve during the engagement, and the expectation is that you can shift between both modes - diagnostic and generative - without a change in quality, pace, or autonomy.

What You Will Do

Operating Model Strategy & Design

• Define or reshape the Flights CS operating model - whether that means evaluating an existing setup or designing from scratch - with a clear view of how responsibilities, decision rights, governance, and performance ownership should be structured

  
  

• Identify where the current or proposed model creates inefficiency, duplication, weak ownership, poor customer outcomes, or avoidable cost

  
  

• Develop a target-state operating model with improvement options across a range of scales - from near-term process fixes to structural redesign - with clear articulation of cost, effort, and expected impact

  
  

• Where a model already exists, assess SLA performance, cost drivers, and accountability gaps; where one is being built, define what performance targets and cost parameters should be from the outset

Service Design & Process Architecture

• Design and document detailed operational flows for core flight customer touchpoints - including schedule changes, cancellations, refunds, disruptions, and ancillary issues

  
  

• Map clear operational boundaries and handoffs between customers, internal agents, technology platforms, and external parties (airlines, partners)

  
  

• Define operational protocols, agent workflows, escalation frameworks, and SOPs - either refining what exists or creating from scratch

  
  

• Translate operational needs into requirements for Product and Engineering - acting as the voice of operations in tooling, CRM, and automation decisions

Financial & Operational Risk

• Connect operating-model design to cost outcomes - whether optimising within an existing cost envelope or defining the cost framework for a new model

  
  

• Investigate operational vulnerabilities that create financial risk - including agent errors, manual overrides, or process gaps that lead to penalties or avoidable cost

  
  

• Design operational controls and protocols to mitigate identified risks, including training guidelines, audit processes, and compliance standards

Stakeholder Engagement & Executive Communication

• Work closely with senior stakeholders across Flights, Customer Service, Finance, and partner-facing teams

  
  

• Produce clear, executive-ready materials - operating-model proposals, service blueprints, recommendations, and decision-support documents

  
  

• Challenge existing assumptions constructively and bring an independent, fact-based perspective

Key Deliverables

Depending on the scope at engagement, deliverables will include a combination of:

• An operating-model design or redesign for Flights CS - covering structure, governance, roles, performance ownership, and service scope

  
  

• Detailed service design maps for core flight lifecycles (booking, modification, cancellation, schedule change, disruption)

  
  

• A structured recommendation set - categorised by scale and impact - with cost implications and expected outcomes

  
  

• A comprehensive KPI and SLA framework - either defining the commercial performance targets for a new operating model, or redesigning the existing contract metrics to better reflect desired service outcomes, cost accountability, and operational performance

  
  

• Operational requirements translated into functional specifications for Product/Tech teams

  
  

• Standard Operating Procedures, escalation frameworks, agent protocols, and training guidelines

  
  

• A target-state view of performance and cost parameters under the recommended model

  
  

• A leadership-ready summary supporting strategic decision-making on next steps

Expected Timeline

Month 1: Discovery & Alignment

• Develop a comprehensive understanding of the operational landscape, existing processes, tooling, and capabilities

  
  

• Align with Product/Tech roadmaps and identify constraints or dependencies

  
  

• Establish working relationships with key stakeholders across Flights, CS, Finance, and partner-facing teams

  
  

• Identify early opportunities and begin driving where applicable

Months 2–4: Design & Recommendations

• Deliver operating-model design or recommendation set (depending on scope)

  
  

• Produce detailed service design maps and operational protocols for priority areas

  
  

• Define operational requirements and controls

  
  

• Present findings and proposals to leadership for alignment

Months 5–9: Execution Support & Handover

• Support implementation of approved designs or recommendations

  
  

• Deliver SOPs, training materials, and operational readiness requirements

  
  

• Hand over a comprehensive, documented operational playbook to the permanent team

  
  

• Define target metrics and transition criteria for new or redesigned processes

Required Experience & Expertise

Non-Negotiable:

• Flight Domain Mastery: 8+ years of experience within an Online Travel Agency (OTA), Airline, Global Distribution System (GDS), or Flight-centric BPO provider. You must deeply understand ticketing lifecycles, GDS queues (Amadeus, Sabre, or Travelport), and ARC/IATA/BSP regulations.

  
  

• Customer Service Operating Model Expertise: Deep experience in customer service operating models, service design, and operational performance improvement. Strong judgment in evaluating outsourced, partner-led, or hybrid service models. Experience assessing SLA-based service environments and linking performance outcomes to operating-model choices.

Additionally required:

• Financial & Commercial Acumen: Ability to connect operating-model design to cost outcomes and business trade-offs. Experience with cost-per-order modelling, service cost analysis, or financial risk mitigation (e.g., ADMs, retail loss).

  
  

• Service Design Excellence: Demonstrated success mapping complex, multi-party customer journeys and back-office workflows - from strategic operating model through to detailed agent-level protocols.

  
  

• Strategic Versatility: Equally comfortable recommending a structural operating-model change and designing the detailed workflow that makes it work.

  
  

• Matrix Stakeholder Management: Experience in large, matrixed enterprise environments. Professional gravity to collaborate with Director-level counterparts, influence cross-functional teams, and present to senior leadership.

  
  

• The Consultant Mindset: Comfort with ambiguity, a self-starting attitude, and the ability to produce high-quality, executive-level documentation rapidly and independently.