Senior Legal Counsel (Booking Holdings FinTech)

Join Booking Holdings, a leading global travel company, as a Senior Legal Counsel in the FinTech division. In this critical role, you will support the design, development, launch, and scaling of innovative financial technology products across multiple jurisdictions and brands. You will work closely with various teams, including Product, Engineering, Compliance, Risk, Partnerships, Privacy, and Commercial, to enable innovative financial products and payment solutions while managing legal and regulatory risk. This is an excellent opportunity for a lawyer with experience in fintech and payments to make a significant impact in a fast-paced, technology-driven environment.

• Advisory: Provide high quality and commercial legal advice to enable the compliant delivery of the FinTech/Payments product strategy, supporting stakeholders through the end-to-end product journey from the design “drawing board” to launch and beyond.
• Product Enablement: Serve as a legal partner for Fintech and payments product teams, advising on the design, structure, implementation, operation and lifecycle management of all FinTech/payment product initiatives globally.
• Regulatory Leadership: Lead and coordinate multi-jurisdictional regulatory assessments for Fintech products and payments flows. This includes identifying and interpreting applicable global regulatory requirements, such as licensing, privacy, payments regulation, consumer protection, and AML/CTF.
• Proven ability to work independently and manage multiple stakeholders in a fast-paced environment
• Law degree from a top law school, and excellent academic credentials
• Qualified lawyer with 5–8 years’ PQE (or equivalent experience) with a mix of in-house and big firm experience preferred
• Experience advising on Fintech products within fast-paced technology companies
• Good understanding of key legal and regulatory frameworks including international money transfer, foreign exchange, outsourcing, open banking, e-money, payment services, e-commerce and online platforms for the EU (e.g. PSD2, AMLD, CBPR2, MTRs, DORA, SCA), US or another key jurisdiction or other rapidly evolving and developing regulatory (e.g. GenAI) contexts are beneficial
• Excellent drafting, negotiation, and communication skills
• Proven track record working in complex, multi-jurisdictional environments
• Experience supporting payments and financial services for a global online marketplace or travel/e-commerce platform
• Excellent communication skills, capable of translating complex legal concepts into concise, actionable insights for non-lawyers
• Understanding of the operational and regulatory complexities of cross-border travel transactions
• Experienced in exercising sound commercial judgment to propose pragmatic legal solutions that balance risk, speed, and strategic goals
• Comfortable making recommendations in ambiguous, fast-evolving regulatory and business environments
• Flexible in adjusting approaches as new regulatory, market, or operational realities emerge. Comfortable collaborating across multiple time zones, cultural contexts, and regulatory environments
• A passion for fintech and payments. Eager to learn new technologies and ideas. Comfortable navigating complicated and nuanced issues
• Native or fluent English speaking and writing skills
• Regular travel to Amsterdam is required