Senior Compliance Specialist - Financial Crime Risk Management & Ethics

KAYAK, part of Booking Holdings (NASDAQ: BKNG), is a leading travel search engine. With billions of queries across our platforms, we help people find their perfect flight, stay, rental car and vacation package. We're also transforming business travel with a new corporate travel solution, KAYAK for Business.

As an employee of KAYAK, you will be part of a travel company that operates a portfolio of global metasearch brands including momondo, Cheapflights and HotelsCombined, among others. From start-up to industry leader, innovation is in our DNA and every employee has an opportunity to make their mark. Our focus is on building the best travel search engine to make it easier for everyone to experience the world.

KAYAK is seeking a motivated, detail-oriented, and proactive Senior Compliance Specialist to join our dynamic in-house legal and compliance team! This versatile role is essential for the smooth operation of our Compliance & Ethics, Financial Crime Risk Management, and Regulatory programs. We are looking for an upbeat self-starter who is highly organized, thrives in a fast-paced technology environment, and is eager to make a lasting impact on our organization.

This position requires a presence in our Concord, MA office three days per week.

In this role you will:

• Support the day-to-day operation of KAYAK's Compliance & Ethics, Financial Crime Risk Management (FCRM) programs, including policy guidance, training coordination, and monitoring activities.

• Help manage conflicts of interest disclosures, gifts and entertainment reviews, and anti-bribery and corruption processes.

• Coordinate Know Your Partner (KYP) and risk-based third-party due diligence for prospective and existing partners, including information collection, review, follow-up, documentation, and escalation.

• Assist with sanctions and restricted-country screening, supporting the Booking Holdings Financial Crime Risk Management Centre of Excellence and escalating issues to the appropriate team members as needed.

• Identify, document, and escalate potential FCRM, sanctions, ethics, and other compliance risks and issues.

• Support risk assessments by gathering information, documenting findings, and tracking approved mitigation actions.

• Contribute to compliance training and awareness initiatives, including the Ethics Ambassador Program and compliance communications to employees.

• Support regulatory monitoring efforts — tracking new and evolving requirements across US, EU, and UK jurisdictions and helping translate them into actionable guidance for the business.

• Help maintain and improve self-service compliance resources, including policies, procedures, process flows, trackers, evidence repositories, and the internal compliance knowledge hub.

• Support periodic monitoring, control testing, compliance audits, and preparation of concise reports and management updates.

• Identify and support opportunities to use approved AI-enabled tools and workflow automation to streamline compliance processes, while maintaining appropriate human review, data protection, and audibility.

• Collaborate with cross-functional partners in People & Culture, Finance, Product, and Engineering on compliance-related matters

Please apply if you have:

• 5 or more years of experience in compliance and ethics, FCRM, sanctions, AML/KYC, third-party risk, legal operations, or a closely related control function - equivalent experience, training, or transferable skills are considered.

• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple workstreams independently and meet deadlines in a fast-moving environment.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills — you can explain a complex requirement clearly to someone who is not a lawyer or compliance professional.

• Sound judgment and the ability to recognize when a situation calls for escalation, even when the right answer is not obvious.

• Experience building productive working relationships across teams and functions.

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office or Google Workspace tools, including spreadsheets and presentation software.

• A positive, "can-do" mentality and a genuine eagerness to learn and contribute to a wide range of projects.

The following are helpful but not required:

• Familiarity with one or more of the following areas: sanctions screening and OFAC concepts, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), anti-bribery and corruption, financial crime risks and controls, consumer protection regulation, or platform regulation (such as the EU Digital Services Act or Digital Markets Act).

• Experience working in a technology company, travel industry, or similarly fast-paced, multi-jurisdictional environment.

• Experience using compliance, workflow, or case-management systems (e.g., learning management systems, helpline platforms, or document management tools).

• Interest in using AI and automation tools to improve compliance workflows, documentation, or reporting.

• Compliance, FCRM, AML, sanctions, or ethics certification such as CCEP, CAMS, or ICA.

We know that no candidate will check every box. If you meet most of these criteria and are excited about this work, we encourage you to apply.

Benefits and Perks

• Work from (almost) anywhere for up to 20 days per year

• Company-wide week off a year – the whole team fully recharges (and returns without a pile-up of work!)

• No meeting Fridays

• Paid parental leave

• Generous paid vacation + time off for your birthday

• Paid volunteer time

• Focus on your career growth:

• Development Dollars

• Leadership development

• Access to thousands of on-demand e-learnings

• Travel Discounts

• Employee Resource Groups

• Competitive retirement and health plans

• Free lunch 2 days per week

• Focus on mental health and well-being:

• Company-paid therapy sessions through SpringHealth

• Company-paid subscription to HeadSpace

Compensation

There are a variety of factors that go into determining a salary range, including but not limited to external market benchmark data, geographic location, and years of experience sought/required. The range for this Massachusetts-based role is $110,000 - 130,000 USD.

We offer a competitive base salary and benefits including: health benefits; flexible spending account; retirement benefits; life insurance; paid time off (including PTO, paid sick leave, medical leave, bereavement leave, floating holidays and paid holidays); and parental leave benefits.

Inclusion

At KAYAK, we want everyone to have the space to grow, share ideas and do great work. That's why we're focused on hiring the best talent from all walks of life and experiences, supporting them well and making sure no one feels like they have to fit a mold to belong here.

Need any adjustments for the interview, application or on the job? No problem – just give us a heads-up. We've got you.