Data & AI Governance Configuration Senior Specialist
Role details
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Job description
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 meta and master data management
- Data & AI Delivery Governance
- Data & AI Quality including both technical and business quality measures
This enables the maturity of Data and AI capabilities across Booking.com, unlocking data and algorithms as assets for delivering innovative growth opportunities and cost saving operational efficiencies., Data and AI Governance:
- Data Stewardship: Own the ease of use and access for Data Ownership and Stewardship roles and responsibilities across tools, ensuring clear accountability and proper onboarding of data stewards with intuitive user journeys.
- Data & AI Governance Principles: Apply and enforce Data & AI Governance principles, processes, policies, and standards to ensure consistent and effective governance practices.
- Regulatory framework mapping: Ensure adherence to Data & AI regulatory policies, such as GDPR, DMA, SOx, and the EU AI Act, by staying updated on compliance requirements and Technical ability to translate frameworks like the EU AI Act or NIST into configurable "assessments" or "checklists" within the tool.
- Data & AI Governance Practices: Drive the adoption of Data & AI Governance capabilities including Data & AI Literacy, data cataloging, data profiling, metadata management, data classification, data lineage, master data management, and workflows, ensuring robust governance of critical data elements.
- Work with the broader Data & AI Governance team to ensure the continuous roll out of improvements and evolution of compliance controls to ensure the continual maturity of Data & AI Practice at Booking.
Configuration Management:
- Metadata Management: Serve as the bridge between Data & AI Governance SMEs, Architecture, and Engineering to lead the end-to-end configuration of metadata environments (e.g., Collibra). You will drive the technical roadmap for metadata schemas, ensuring alignment with organizational standards while identifying and executing continuous improvement opportunities to enhance data discoverability and lineage.
- Mentor and coach configuration team members
- E2E Delivery & Lifecycle Management: Own the execution of high-complexity Data & AI Governance initiatives within an Agile framework. You are responsible for leading the full configuration lifecycle-from design and rigorous testing to reporting and the seamless transition of tooling into Business-As-Usual (BAU) operations.
- Methodology & Governance: Design and implement project governance structures, applying structured change management and project methodologies (PMP/Agile) to ensure efficient delivery and adoption.
- Stakeholder Management: Act as the authoritative point of contact for all metadata management inquiries. You must navigate a complex stakeholder landscape, effectively engaging with cross-functional working groups and presenting strategic updates to leadership up to the VP level.
- Risk Management: Identify, assess, track and mitigate issues and risks at multiple levels
- Operational Excellence: Expertly leverage the Atlassian suite (Jira/Confluence) to architect delivery workflows, track configuration changes, and maintain transparent documentation. You will ensure output is measurable, visible, and aligned with departmental velocity goals.
- Change Leadership: Champion the department's change management protocols. You will support and guide your virtual team through technical transitions and organizational shifts, ensuring that new governance processes are adopted smoothly without disrupting the broader data community.
Requirements
Do you have experience in SQL?, Role Description: We are looking for a Data & AI Governance Senior Specialist to join our Data & AI Governance organization, working across the Data & Machine Learning department, as an integral role in the Data & AI Governance team, on and off shore, as an individual contributor. The Configuration Senior Specialist must have demonstrated experience in metadata management tooling configuration in addition to demonstrated experience in working on large cross-organizational Data & AI Governance initiatives. Ideal candidates should have a technical background in Data & AI Governance Standards & Frameworks, Data Ownership & Stewardship, Risk Management, Regulatory Change, and Business Operations and various Data Governance tools. They must be able to thrive and succeed in an entrepreneurial environment, and not be hindered by ambiguity or competing priorities. This means not only being able to develop and drive high-level strategic initiatives, but can also roll up their sleeves, dig in and help drive change.
This role is a mix of leadership (leading a small virtual team of specialists and analysts) as an individual contributor, and it demands skills as an evangelist and a partner - at a time where transformation and modernization of our data ecosystem is a company-wide priority. This role requires a blend of skills and knowledge of data architecture, platform-specific expertise, and software delivery discipline., * 5-8 years of relevant technical experience, with 3+ years focused around Data Governance (or 5+ years in a broader Data/Analytical role):
- SQL Proficiency: Strong ability to query relational databases to validate metadata or troubleshoot integration issues.
- SDLC for Governance: Applying "Data Governance as Code" principles-using Git for version control of configuration scripts and managing Test, Staging, and Production environments.
- At least 1-2 years of experience in metadata management and 1-2 years managing data teams, including building and growing the team:
- Operating Model Configuration: Proficiency in defining and configuring Asset Types, Domains, Communities, and complex relationship mapping.
- Workflow Engineering: Ability to design and deploy automated governance workflows (e.g., using BPMN 2.0, Java, or Groovy) for approvals, issue management, and asset onboarding.
- Metamodel Design: Skill in creating logical structures that represent the organization's data landscape (Business Glossaries, Data Catalogs, and AI Model Registries).
- AI Model Metadata Tracking: Understanding how to capture AI-specific attributes like model versions, training datasets, "fairness" metrics, and accuracy scores.
- Data Governance certification (e.g DAMA, DGI, etc.) or equivalent certification is a plus, though not a requirement
- Self-driven learner, capable of proactively connect with many other teams to understand the intersection of regulation and data & AI governance capabilities
- Excellent communication (written and spoken) and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to build strong working relationships with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Benefits & conditions
Booking.com's Total Rewards Philosophy is not only about compensation but also about benefits. We offer a competitive compensation and benefits package 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
- 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
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.
