Principal Counsel, Employment & Corporate — North America (RTI / B2B Division)

Our Company

Booking Holdings (NASDAQ: BKNG) is the world's leading provider of online travel and related services, delivered to consumers and local partners through five primary brands: Booking.com, Agoda, Priceline, KAYAK, and OpenTable. We operate in more than 220 countries and territories, in over 40 languages. Our mission is to make it easier for everyone to experience the world.

The Opportunity

As part of Booking Holdings, a new consolidated B2B division brings together the B2B businesses of Booking.com, Priceline, and Agoda into a unified global platform serving airlines, travel management companies, online travel agencies, financial institutions, and other strategic partners.

This is a rare opportunity for a fast-growing global B2B travel platform, owning the employment and litigation legal function for North America and serving as the team's on-the-ground expert in US law.

Reporting to the Legal Director, you'll work with significant autonomy. You'll be setting your own agenda, managing external counsel relationships, and acting as a trusted adviser to the business on US legal matters. The core of this role is employment and litigation, but you'll also pick up a range of ad hoc legal work as it arises: corporate, regulatory, competition, consumer protection, and other matters that come with operating a global technology company. 

In this Role, You'll Get To

Lead Employment Law for The Americas

• Serve as the primary legal adviser on all US employment matters, including hiring, terminations, workplace policies, accommodation requests, wage and hour compliance, and leave entitlements across federal and state law.
• Advise HR and People teams on day-to-day employment questions and escalations, identifying risk and providing clear, practical guidance.
• Monitor developments in US employment law and proactively update policies and practices to ensure continued compliance.
• Instruct and manage external employment counsel on contentious matters, including EEOC charges, demand letters, and litigation.

Manage Litigation & Disputes

• Own the management of litigation, regulatory investigations, and disputes across the Americas, and globally as required, coordinating with external counsel from initial engagement through resolution.
• Serve as the internal point of contact for litigation holds, service of process, and cross-functional responses to legal proceedings.
• Provide strategic input on dispute resolution, settlement decisions, and risk management in collaboration with the Legal Director.
• Manage external counsel relationships: briefing, scoping, fee oversight, and ensuring outside advisers understand the company's commercial context.

Support Ad Hoc US Legal Matters

• Advise on a range of US legal issues as they arise, including regulatory inquiries, consumer protection, competition, and e-commerce compliance.
• Partner with global legal colleagues and cross-functional teams (HR, Finance, Compliance, Product) to identify legal risk and support business objectives.
• Provide in-person and virtual training to business colleagues on relevant US legal topics as needed.
• Contribute to legal projects and initiatives that span the broader B2B global legal function.

What You'll Need to Succeed

Experience

• 6+ years of legal experience - preference for candidates who have worked in both a law firm and in-house legal environment, but not a requirement.
• Substantive experience in US employment law is essential; exposure to litigation management and regulatory matters is strongly preferred.
• Comfort with instructing and managing external counsel, including fee and scope oversight.
• Prior experience in technology, e-commerce, or a similarly fast-paced, multi-jurisdictional environment is an asset.

Qualifications

• J.D. from an accredited US law school and admission in good standing to the bar of at least one US jurisdiction.
• Eligible to work in the United States.

Working Style

• Highly self-directed: you are comfortable setting priorities independently, working without close day-to-day supervision, and knowing when to escalate.
• Sound judgment and a practical, solutions-oriented approach to legal risk: you give clear advice, not just analysis.
• Strong communicator: you can translate complex legal issues for non-legal audiences and work effectively across time zones with a global team.
• Resilient and adaptable: you're comfortable with ambiguity, shifting priorities, and the realities of a lean, growing team.
• High integrity and commercial awareness: you balance legal risk with business practicality and are trusted to do both.

There are a variety of factors that go into determining a salary range, including but not limited to external market benchmark data, geographic location, and years of experience sought/required. In addition to a competitive base salary, roles are eligible to be considered for an annual bonus and equity grant.

The range for Connecticut and the NYC-metro area is $175,000 to $210,000