Senior Agile Coach

Booking.com; Amsterdam; Hybrid; EUR 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Product discounts

Paid leave

Job summary

Booking.com is seeking an Agile Coach to partner with Product, Engineering and other crafts across all business units, ensuring delivery of high-quality software. You will guide teams to think customer-first, foster psychological safety, and support sustainable ways of working in a fast-moving tech environment.

You’ll coach across multiple teams, influence Directors, and help scale agile practices, while contributing to a culture of continuous learning.

Qualifications

• Broad knowledge of agile values and principles.
• Familiar with Scrum, Kanban, Lean, XP and related methods.
• Experience with the software delivery lifecycle and coaching.

Responsibilities

• Coach teams to deliver high-quality software and improve delivery metrics.
• Collaborate with product, engineering and other crafts to shape delivery.
• Foster psychological safety and a culture of continuous learning.
• Lead continuous improvement and guide stakeholders at scale.
• Mentor other coaches and help align department coaching plans.

Skills

Agile values

Scrum

Kanban

Lean

XP and practices

Job description

About Us:

At Booking.com, data drives our decisions. Technology is at our core. And innovation is everywhere. But our company is more than datasets, lines of code or A/B tests. We’re the thrill of the first night in a new place. The excitement of the next morning. The friends you encounter. The journeys you take. The sights you see. And the memories you make. Through our products, partners and people, we make it easier for everyone to experience the world.

About Us:

At Booking.com, data drives our decisions. Technology is at our core. And innovation is everywhere. But our company is more than datasets, lines of code or A/B tests. We’re the thrill of the first night in a new place. The excitement of the next morning. The friends you encounter. The journeys you take. The sights you see. And the memories you make. Through our products, partners and people, we make it easier for everyone to experience the world.

Leadership/Team Quote:

Our team is dedicated to embedding agile values and principles across the organization. Our mission is to foster a culture where continuous improvement, collaboration, and customer‑centricity are at the heart of everything we do by leveraging fast flow, fast feedback and climate for learning capabilities. Through education and coaching, we equip individuals and teams with the mindsets, behaviours, and practices needed to thrive in agile environments. We lead transformational change by guiding teams and departments through shifts in mindset, culture, and ways of working. By promoting transparency, collaboration, and empowerment, we cultivate an environment where teams take ownership, adapt quickly, and tackle complex challenges together. We drive continuous improvement by proactively identifying constraints to value delivery and evolving behaviours and processes that support long‑term, sustainable growth. We’re also passionate about building community, nurturing vibrant communities of practice that enable knowledge sharing, peer support, and ongoing learning, ensuring innovation stays at the core of how we work.

Role Description:

An Agile Coach works with Product, Engineering and other crafts across all business units that have and support product teams, ensuring the effective delivery of high‑quality, working software. Agile Coaches collaborate with a variety of roles across multiple, cross‑functional teams to shape high‑performing teams that deliver high value to the business by guiding them to think customer‑first and work sustainably. Agile Coaches are focused on continuous improvement and operate at all levels of the organization to identify areas for improvement, guide stakeholders and teams, and foster a culture of psychological safety and learning. They help create the environment for behavioral change and lower the barriers to adopting desired mindsets and agile practices. Agile Coaches are deployed into areas aligned with business priorities and work with stakeholders and teams to determine where they can provide the greatest impact. They may also contribute to large‑scale programs in partnership with other crafts and leadership roles. Agile Coaches bring experience from backgrounds in Engineering, Product, or Design, which enables them to draw on a broad set of experiences in working with software development teams. Their hands‑on coaching helps teams embed a culture of continuous improvement, improve delivery practices, and adopt a data‑informed approach to change.

Key Job Responsibilities and Duties:

• Work with teams to deliver working software: Coach teams and partner with product, engineering and additional crafts to continuously improve delivery effectiveness, help identify and solve impediments, and focus on meaningful delivery metrics; at cross‑department scale driving end‑to‑end flow across value streams, multi‑team predictability, and program‑level de‑risking.
• Influencing Behavioural Change: Drive behavioral change by fostering a culture of continuous improvement, sustainable delivery, and experimentation. Coach teams and engage stakeholders through collaborative communication, emotional intelligence, and alignment to support adaptive, feedback‑driven ways of working; including coaching up to Directors to align objectives/strategy/ways of working at scale and sustain change beyond direct involvement.
• Continuous Improvement: Lead continuous improvement by identifying change opportunities, shaping direction, and partnering with leadership who own the change and drive progress both inside and outside of the teams. Translate insights into action through clear communication, stakeholder alignment, and follow‑through; define department‑level coaching plans with current/target conditions, experiments, enabling constraints, and exit strategies, validated via metrics/health checks.
• Culture of psychological safety: Fosters a culture of psychological safety by encouraging open idea‑sharing and healthy conflict, while applying techniques like root cause analysis to identify sustainable solutions.
• Stakeholder Management: Identifies and engages key stakeholders, builds buy‑in through communication, assesses change impacts, and designs change management strategies.
• Negotiating: Negotiates to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes by understanding and addressing the needs and motives of others.
• Consulting / Advising: Provides consulting and advisory services by understanding organizational challenges and delivering effective solutions through collaborative problem‑solving and communication.
• Coaching and Mentoring: Provides coaching and mentoring to stakeholders at all levels by sharing expertise and strategies to enhance performance and overcome challenges; act as a craft leader/mentor for other coaches and leaders, introducing advanced methods and scaling capabilities via communities of practice.

Qualifications & Skills:

• Broad Job Knowledge (5 - 8 years)
• Full understanding of the agile values and principles
• Differing agile methodologies (e.g. scrum, kanban, lean, XP etc)
• Knowledge in the software delivery life cycle including but not limited to continuous delivery
• Relevant background in an Engineering or Product role

Benefits & Perks - Global Impact, Personal Relevance:

• 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

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.

Pre-Employment Screening:

If your application is successful, your personal data may be used for a pre‑employment screening check by a third party as permitted by applicable law. Depending on the vacancy and applicable law, a pre‑employment screening may include employment history, education and other information (such as media information) that may be necessary for determining your qualifications and suitability for the position.

Booking.com is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. We strive to move well beyond traditional equal opportunity and work to create an environment that allows everyone to thrive.