Director Strategy & Operations Trips

The Trips Business Unit (Trips) is central to realizing ’s vision of the Connected Trip. Trips is responsible for building world-class experiences across key travel categories — including Flights, Rental Cars, Rides, Attractions/Experiences, and Insurance — on a global scale. Beyond leading these verticals, Trips ensures high-quality and consistent traveler experiences by adhering to  data and technology standards.

The Director Strategy & Operations for Trips is a key role within Trips, focused on developing and executing the Trips BU long-term strategy as well as ensuring delivery against that strategy. The Director Strategy & Operations is a member of the Trips LT with responsibility for crafting a strategic trajectory for the BU, making and facilitating major strategic decisions about priorities and sequencing through data-driven analytical thinking and senior judgment, driving performance and managing strategic activities through the right performance measurement, governance, steering and management teams, while also serving as a sounding board / thought partner for the BU SVP specifically and LT members as needed.

The role influences the creation and execution of the vision and strategy of the business and ensures the right topics are being worked on, all projects are well coordinated, and that results are achieved in line with the BU strategy and budget goals.

The role partners with the SVP Trips and manages a the of strategy & business operations professionals, as well as PMO), owning the following areas:

• Strategy:
  Developing and ensuring execution against the long-term strategy for Trips, supporting the wider  vision and strategy, ensuring operational capability and readiness to deliver, competitiveness in the global market, commitment across Trips and other business units towards delivery and dependencies where applicable, strong financial trajectory.
• Constant horizon scanning:
  For competitive positioning, trends and insight as well as organic and inorganic growth opportunities
• Strategic projects:
  Delivering special projects as needed e.g. M&A assessments, deep-dive strategy projects, owning strategic topics across Trips such as Loyalty & Retention.
• Setting and monitoring performance through OKRs:
  Working closely with FP&A to translate the long-term strategy and budget into operational targets & OKRs that cascade through the business unit and have clear accountability. Tracking performance & delivery vs. those OKRs.
• Business operations & PMO:
  Working closely with senior stakeholders to ensure that the BU delivers on its accountabilities by (a) tracking performance vs. plans (b) understanding the work practically being done, where there are blockers and pushing towards resolution (c) embedding strong operating and delivery processes. Working closely with FP&A as well as Data to drive the right insight and alignment against our financial and non-financial goals.
• Represent and steward the Strategy, Business Operations & Program job family group:
  Act as a visible ambassador for the Strategy, Business Operations & Program job family group, demonstrating the value of strategy, business operations, program and change management to stakeholders and peers.

• BU operational maturity — Strengthen planning, delivery tracking, and performance management across a growing and increasingly complex business unit.
• Establish Trips-wide strategic ownership for topics such as loyalty and retention as well as marketing, ensuring effective ways of working with other business units as well as the individual Trips verticals.

• Reports to:
  
  SVP, Trips
• Direct reports: 6-7
• Key Peer relationships: MDs for Trips Verticals, VP Engineering & Data, Strategy & Operations leaders in other Business Units

• Own the Trips BU multi-year strategy, ensuring it is supporting the overall  Vision and Strategy, is commercially grounded, competitively informed, and operationally deliverable.
• Turn strategy into operational plans (e.g. 3-year plans, annual plans, country/segment strategies) with aligned objectives, KPIs and resource…