About Booking HoldingsBooking Holdings (NASDAQ: BKNG) is the world's leading provider of online travel and related services, provided to consumers and local partners in more than 220 countries and territories through five primary consumer-facing brands: Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK and OpenTable. The mission of Booking Holdings is to make it easier for everyone to experience the world. For more information, visit BookingHoldings.com and follow us on X (formerly known as Twitter) @BookingHoldings.

The role: The Category Lead is responsible for managing strategic procurement activities and leading category strategies in brand marketing within a global or regional scope. This includes owning category strategies for spend areas valued at €5M-€20M, and delivering sourcing projects valued between €1M-€5M. The role requires the ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders, ensure procurement compliance, and drive measurable value.

Key responsibilities:

Category Strategy & Sourcing

• Develop and own category strategies across multiple regions with a combined annual spend of brand marketing €5M-€20M
• Lead procurement projects with individual sourcing value of €1M-€5M, from requirements gathering through contract execution
• Align category initiatives with global procurement and business objectives
• Embed ESG, compliance, innovation, and risk mitigation in category planning

Contract & Supplier Management

• Conduct negotiations and manage contract execution aligned to organizational policies
• Define supplier KPIs, monitor performance, and implement improvement actions
• Maintain supplier relationships to ensure value, quality, and service delivery

Stakeholder Collaboration

• Engage marketing business stakeholders across functions and geographies
• Serve as a procurement advisor and escalation point on key sourcing topics
• Coordinate with legal, finance, and operations to ensure seamless delivery

Spend Oversight & Optimization

• Drive year-on-year cost savings by optimizing both price and demand levers, in alignment with assigned savings targets and evolving business needs.
• Generate additional value beyond cost and price reduction through innovation, process efficiency, supplier collaboration, and risk mitigation.
• Deliver savings and value through strategy execution and market intelligence
• Leverage analytics and dashboards to report on KPIs and category performance
• Share best practices and contribute to procurement capability development

Qualifications & Skills:

• Master's degree in Procurement, Supply Chain, Business Administration, or equivalent field
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to manage priorities and influence stakeholders
• Experience with eProcurement systems (e.g., Coupa, Ariba, SAP) and strong Excel/analytics proficiency
• Demonstrated experience in procurement strategy, negotiation, and supplier management
• Minimum 2-3 years of experience working in multinational companies with cross-functional stakeholder interaction
• 5 years of procurement/category management experience
• Minimum 2-3 years of experience working in multinational companies with complex stakeholder networks
• Demonstrated ability to drive significant year-on-year cost savings
• Experience managing strategic sourcing projects and supporting category strategy execution
• Proven capability in supplier management and marketing stakeholder engagement across functions