Lead Agile Coach

About Us: at Booking.com, data drives our decisions. Technology is at our core. And innovation is everywhere. But our company is more than datasets, lines of code or A/B tests. We’re the thrill of the first night in a new place. The excitement of the next morning. The friends you encounter. The journeys you take. The sights you see. And the memories you make. Through our products, partners and people, we make it easier for everyone to experience the world.

About the team:

Our Agile Coaching function embeds agile values and principles across the organisation. We lead transformational change by guiding teams and departments through shifts in mindset, culture and ways of working. We foster a culture where continuous improvement, collaboration and customer‑centricity are at the heart of everything we do, leveraging fast flow, fast feedback and a strong climate for learning.

We’re passionate about building community, nurturing vibrant communities of practice that enable knowledge sharing, peer support and ongoing learning, ensuring innovation stays at the core of how we work.

Role Description

As a Lead Agile Coach (Manager), you lead and develop a team of Agile Coaches and own the coaching strategy, roadmap, capacity and operating model to deliver measurable impact across Booking.com. You also shape and champion the positioning of the Agile Coaching role across the organisation and design, evaluate and evolve its operating model.

You partner with delivery leadership, strategy and Product and Engineering to enable continuous delivery of working software through data-informed practices, while building psychologically safe, high-performing teams and driving organisational health via clear governance, prioritisation, risk management and consistent ways of working. You think systemically, using data and insights to balance competing priorities, make trade-offs clear and drive organisational impact across short- and long-term goals.

In addition to people leadership, you operate hands-on as an individual contributor for part of your time, leading complex, multi-team engagements and directly supporting delivery across teams, tracks, areas and business units to model modern agile practices and ground strategy in real delivery contexts.

You define and champion how AI-driven paradigms are integrated into the Agile Coaching framework and operating model.

Key Job Responsibilities and Duties:

• Lead and grow a team of Agile Coaches: inspire, develop capabilities, manage performance and build a strong learning culture aligned to Booking.com values.

• Own the Agile Coaching strategy, roadmap, capacity, governance and impact; plan and execute initiatives, define operating mechanisms and report outcomes to leadership. Position the Agile Coaching role clearly across the organisation and design, evaluate and evolve the operating model in response to evidence and organisational needs.

• Build organisational health: create diverse, psychologically safe, high-performing teams; establish scalable processes, reduce risk and single points of failure and drive continuous improvement with meaningful metrics.

• Partner with Product and Engineering, Business Operations to enable effective delivery of working software: shape data-informed flow and feedback, remove impediments and dependencies and reinforce practices that improve predictability and outcomes. Use system-level insights to balance competing priorities and guide decisions toward sustainable organisational impact.

• Influence and align stakeholders at all levels: teams, tracks, areas and business units, creating buy-in, designing change management approaches and sustaining behavioural change beyond direct involvement. Adapt your communication style, approach and stance to the stakeholder and situation; create momentum by mobilising teams around coaching priorities and sustaining change.

• Operate hands-on as a coach for part of your time, leading complex multi-team engagements and modeling practices at scale across tracks/areas/BUs to accelerate delivery and improvement.

• Mentor coaches and leaders; nurture knowledge sharing and communities of practice to elevate craft standards and amplify impact across the organisation.

• Own Agile Coach hiring and onboarding; define role profiles, run selection processes and ensure new hires are set up for success.

• Define and champion the integration of AI-driven paradigms within the Agile Coaching framework and operating model.

Leadership Behaviours

• Be Clear: Make clear what is negotiable and non-negotiable, establish boundaries and resolve ambiguity by setting strategic direction. Empower independent decision-making while balancing short- and long-term goals.

• Be Consistent: Create clear expectations and apply them consistently.

• Role Model: Model the behaviours and coaching standards expected of the function at all times.

• Be Adaptable: Adjust communication style, approach and stance to the stakeholder, context and situation.

• Be a Catalyst: Identify opportunities and mobilise teams to advance coaching strategies, create momentum and sustain change.

• Have a Growth and Data-Driven Mindset: Learn continuously and base decisions on relevant data and insights.

Qualifications & Skills:

• Broad Job Knowledge (5 - 8 years)

• Proven experience managing and developing coaches or similar roles, including talent and performance management.

• Strong stakeholder influence skills and change leadership across different levels of an organisation.

• Full understanding of agile values and principles, 

• Working knowledge of multiple agile methodologies (e.g., Scrum, Kanban, XP, Lean, LeSS, SAFe).

• Relevant background in Engineering or Product.

• Experience designing or evolving an operating model, using data to guide organisational decisions and leading change across multiple stakeholder groups.

• Ability to define and champion the responsible integration of AI-driven ways of working into a coaching framework or organisational operating model.

Benefits & Perks - Global Impact, Personal Relevance:

Booking.com’s Total Rewards Philosophy is not only about compensation but also about benefits. We offer a competitive compensation and benefits package, as well unique-to-Booking.com benefits which include:

• Annual paid time off and generous paid leave scheme including: parent, grandparent, bereavement and care leave

• Hybrid working including flexible working arrangements and up to 20 days per year working from abroad (home country)

• Industry leading product discounts - up to 1400 per year - for yourself, including automatic Genius Level 3 status and Booking.com wallet credit 

• Living and working in Amsterdam, one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Europe

• Contributing to a high scale, complex, world renowned product and seeing real-time impact of your work on millions of travelers worldwide

• Working in a fast-paced and performance driven culture

• Opportunity to utilize technical expertise, leadership capabilities and entrepreneurial spirit

• Promote and drive impactful and innovative engineering solutions

• Technical, behavioral and interpersonal competence advancement via on-the-job opportunities, experimental projects, hackathons, conferences and active community participation

• Competitive compensation and benefits package and some great added perks of working in the home city of Booking.com

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) at Booking.com: 

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion have been a core part of our company culture since day one. This ongoing journey starts with our very own employees, who represent over 140 nationalities and a wide range of ethnic and social backgrounds, genders and sexual orientations. 

Take it from our Chief People Officer, Paulo Pisano: “At Booking.com, the diversity of our people doesn’t just build an outstanding workplace, it also creates a better and more inclusive travel experience for everyone. Inclusion is at the heart of everything we do. It’s a place where you can make your mark and have a real impact in travel and tech.” 

We ensure that colleagues with disabilities are provided the adjustments and tools they need to participate in the job application and interview process, to perform crucial job functions and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.

Application Process: 

CV review

Recruitment phone screen

Business Interview 1

Business Interview 2

Final/ FIT interview

Hiring Decision

• Let’s go places together: How we Hire

• This role does not come with relocation assistance.

Booking.com is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. We strive to move well beyond traditional equal opportunity and work to create an environment that allows everyone to thrive.

Pre-Employment Screening

If your application is successful, your personal data may be used for a pre-employment screening check by a third party as permitted by applicable law. Depending on the vacancy and applicable law, a pre-employment screening may include employment history, education and other information (such as media information) that may be necessary for determining your qualifications and suitability for the position.