Data & AI Governance Senior Specialist

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: The Data & AI Governance department enables extending the governance theme of policies, standards, processes and technology for governing data and AI to driving excellence in our approach to leveraging secure, trusted, accessible data for data driven decision making through:

• An overarching Data & AI Policy to include associated standards

• Data & AI Governance, including cataloging, classification, metadata, lineage

• Data Access and Usage Control, in compliance with regulatory

• Data & AI Delivery Governance

• Data & AI Observability and Quality

This enables the maturity of Data and AI capabilities across Booking.com, unlocking data and AI applications as assets for delivering innovative growth opportunities and cost saving operational efficiencies.

Role Description: The Senior Data & AI Governance Specialist is an expert in Data & AI Governance

This role will contribute to the strategy execution and implementation of Data & AI Governance frameworks and drive best practice across a broad range of Data & AI capabilities across the company

In particular, this role requires a subject matter expert focused on the end-to-end data lifecycle including defining, implementing, and monitoring data retention, deletion, and legal hold across our data ecosystem

This is a ‘bridge’ role where you will translate legal and regulatory

into governance standards, assist in creating technical Product Requirement Documents (PRDs) and work alongside engineering teams to ensure our data estate remains compliant, and governed.

Key to success in this role is the ability to translate an expert level of Data & AI Governance knowledge into communication and storytelling for executive sponsors and key stakeholders while delivering and highlighting tangible

for the business. 

This role demands skills as an evangelist and a partner, at a time where transformation and modernisation of our data ecosystem is an Org level priority.

Key Job

and Duties: 

• Contribute to the definition, review, update and roll-out of the Data & AI Governance framework and related standards and guidelines. 

• Lead the end-to-end data lifecycle management process by collecting complex retention and deletion

  from Legal/Privacy teams and translating them into actionable technical standards and PRDs.

• Partner with Product and Engineering teams to design and validate automated deletion workflows, ensuring Right to be Forgotten (RTBF) and statutory retention periods are baked into the data architecture.

• Partner with the Data & AI Governance Solution Architect in ensuring architecture designs and tooling solutions are embedding Data & AI Governance principles and needs, throughout the Data & AI lifecycle in all strategic Data & AI initiatives and programs.

• Define and implement the operational framework for Legal Holds, ensuring specific data sets are preserved and excluded from automated deletion cycles when required.

• Draft and maintain the global standard for Data Lifecycle Management (DLM), moving beyond ‘storage’ to focus on active data minimization and disposal.

• Define and track KPIs for lifecycle health (e.g., deletion success rates, volume of expired data, legal hold coverage) and build monitoring dashboards to ensure compliance.

• Act as the functional lead in validating that new tooling or in-house builds meet the governance Definition of Done for retention and deletion capabilities.

• Collaborate with Risk, Privacy, and Security to ensure alignment between Data Governance policies and the technical execution of DMA, DSA, and GDPR obligations.

• Lead proactive and reactive resolution of Data & AI Governance compliance risks, reporting key KPIs to relevant stakeholders, including the Data & AI Governance boards

• Ensure alignment between Data & AI governance methodology, Data Privacy procedures and

  , the IT Information Security strategy and any new regulatory compliance such as DMA/ DSA and EU AI Act by working closely with cross functional teams. 

Qualifications and Skills: 

• 5+ years’ experience in designing and implementing Data Governance / Management in large-scale organisations; AI Governance experience preferred

  Hands-on experience specifically designing and implementing Data Lifecycle Management (DLM), including retention schedules, automated deletion, and archiving strategies.

• Experience with data cataloging tools from the market (Collibra, Informatica, Alation, Atlan, Microsoft Purview, Polaris, etc.) 

• Proven track record of working directly with cross functional teams including Legal/Privacy counsel to interpret regulations and drafting guidelines for product and engineering teams to execute.

• Expert knowledge of Data & AI Governance principles, processes and standards.

• Practical experience with data cataloging (preferably in Collibra),metadata, data classification, data lineage, critical data elements, workflows, and relative tools from the industry, ideally including tool assessment, rollout and management.

• Expert knowledge of implementing and leading Data & AI Governance risk and issue assessment and strategy.

• Good knowledge of Data & AI Regulatory policies, e.g., GDPR, DMA, SOx, EU AI Act, etc., and first-hand experience with regulatory compliance frameworks in complex organizations.

• Experience in setting up a Data Maturity evaluation framework, in identifying and elevating less mature areas.

• Good knowledge of Atlassian Jira and Confluence.

Benefits & Perks - Global Impact, Personal Relevance:

 

Booking.com’s Total Rewards Philosophy is not only about

but also about

We offer a competitive compensation and

package, as well unique-to-Booking.com

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

  and

  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

and privileges of employment.

 

Application Process: 

• Let’s go places together: How we Hire

• This role does not come with relocation assistance.

 Booking.com is proud to be an

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

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

and suitability for the position.