Senior Legal Counsel - Privacy (For independent contractors)

At Booking.com, the world’s #1 accommodation site & the 3rd largest global e-commerce player, we connect travellers with the world’s largest selection of incredible places to stay, including everything from apartments, vacation homes, & family-run B&Bs to 5-star luxury resorts, tree houses & even igloos. The Booking.com website & mobile apps are available in over 40 languages, offer 28,878,580 total reported listings, & cover 153,978 destinations in 228 countries & territories worldwide. Our mission is making it easier for everyone to experience the world. One of the most vital functions within Booking.com, Legal & Public Affairs (LPA) has over 80 members located across 9 different countries, led by the SVP & Chief Legal Officer, based in Amsterdam. The LPA function partners with every other function within Booking.com, in order to fully understand the business & give the right support & leadership, wherever & whenever it is needed.

The Senior Legal Counsel is the leading lawyer supporting a specific department serving as a Business Partner to help the team in delivering on its Strategic Priorities, ensuring compliance with laws and policies. This role is the single point of contact for the specified business unit, providing leadership and guidance to their leadership team, working closely with external partners drafting and negotiating complex deals, and with external counsels.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide leadership and guidance to a specific business unit's leadership team on a full range of legal issues including commercial contracts, disputes, competition law, IP law, consumer law regulatory (in coordination with the other experts in the Legal department)

  
  

• Ensure the activities, policies, business practices and transactions comply with all relevant laws and regulations

  
  

• Serve as a business partner to the business unit, helping it deliver on its strategic priorities and grow the business in a sustainable way

  
  

• Draft and negotiate complex global deals with external partners

  
  

• Coordinate with Regional Counsels on deals and any potential local regulatory matters that may arise

  
  

• Serve as single point of contact within the Legal team to ensure that Legal and Public Affairs priorities of all subareas of Legal (e.g. privacy, competition, consumer law) are being rolled out in the department they are responsible for

  
  

• Train the business unit team on a variety of legal matters and work with their leadership team to improve risk management and controls

  
  

• Analyze precedents/case law as well as proposed/existing laws and regulations that may impact the specific department/business unit and its growth - work on implementing any requirements coming from such regulations

  
  

• Manage External Counsel where needed and constantly look for opportunities to improve ways of working/process/controls (e.g. contract management matters)

  
  

• Work hand in hand with the Public Affairs team on policy issues related to the specific department/business unit.

Requirements of special knowledge/skills

• EU, UK, or US law degree.

• Native or fluent English speaking and writing skills.

• Min. 5+ years of experience in an international environment, independently leading complex commercial contracts from inception to closure (including whole-cloth drafting, negotiation, and cross-functional escalation).

• Deep understanding of GDPR, the e-Privacy Directive, and familiarity with the DSA, DMA, and AI Act, specifically as they apply to e-commerce, tracking tech, marketing, and product privacy compliance.

• Excellent stakeholder management and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work alongside senior management to implement policies on a cross-functional basis.

• Ability to proactively provide sound legal advice, exercise good business judgment, and act as a "voice of reason" in a fast-paced or crisis environment.

• A confident self-starter with strong organizational skills, openness, and flexibility.