Principal Leadership Recruiter

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.

Role Description:

The Leadership Recruitment team has expanded its remit to support all brands outside of Booking.com. This global support model is increasingly challenging, with team members currently based in New York and Seattle. To better serve Agoda's significant upcoming growth and recruitment needs, there is a strategic requirement to establish a local presence in their Bangkok headquarters.

Agoda is currently in a major transition period, with much of the organization moving into a new Business Unit led by the CEO. This includes establishing a new B2B business and managing a higher volume of vacancies at the senior Director+ level.

The Principal Leadership Recruiter will be the first on the ground leadership hiring specialist in Bangkok. This role is critical for building a direct partnership with Agoda and other B2B businesses in the Asia market. The focus is on supporting high-level executive hiring while building functional credibility from the ground up in an environment similar to Booking.com a decade ago—large and successful, but still maturing its HR processes and job evaluation frameworks.

Key Job Responsibilities and Duties:

• Lead senior Director+ executive search assignments for Agoda and B2B businesses in Asia.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders and senior leadership.
• Influence hiring managers to adopt and follow standardized recruitment processes and guidance.
• Establish a seat at the table for HR within the Agoda leadership team.
• Own and deepen relationships with SVP/VP and C-level leaders across Booking.com and the wider Booking Holdings group, aligning executive hiring and succession strategy with business priorities and long-term workforce planning.
• Lead highly complex, cross-brand executive searches across geographies. Deliver rigorous assessment, structured process excellence and an exceptional executive candidate experience while balancing internal and external talent considerations.
• Contribute to the group-wide Succession Risk Management agenda by proactively identifying leadership gaps, assessing internal “ready now” and “ready soon” successors, and building external pipelines to mitigate risk for business-critical roles.
• Provide data-driven insights on talent markets, competitor landscape, compensation trends and executive mobility to inform strategic hiring decisions and leadership planning. Act as a trusted advisor in leadership forums and annual planning cycles.
• Collaborate closely with Senior Leadership Sourcers, Lead Recruiters and People stakeholders to build sustainable executive talent pipelines across priority industries and functions. Continuously strengthen the Executive Recruitment function by driving best-in-class standards, scalable processes and disciplined governance, while leveraging external partners selectively and strategically where it adds clear value.

Qualifications & Skills:

• Stable, credible, and strong personality with the ability to speak with authority.
• Adept at stakeholder management and building credibility in a high-growth, entrepreneurial environment.
• Significant executive search experience, either within a leading search firm or as an in-house Executive / Leadership Recruiter in a complex, global organisation.
• Proven track record of leading senior executive searches including direct sourcing of passive talent across technology-driven, digital platform and global consumer businesses.
• Strong customer mindset, treats senior leaders and candidates as long-term partners, not transactions. Demonstrates a consistent focus on delivering a high-quality, structured and differentiated executive experience across every interaction.
• Credible advisor to executive leadership, with the ability to influence in high-stakes, ambiguous and matrixed environments. Comfortable operating at enterprise level while balancing immediate delivery with long-term succession and talent strategy.
• Commercially sharp and analytically strong. Able to translate market intelligence, talent data and competitive insights into clear, actionable recommendations.
• Excellent communicator with executive presence; able to challenge constructively, build trust quickly and navigate sensitive conversations with discretion.
• Highly organised and execution-focused, with disciplined attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple complex searches simultaneously without compromising quality.
• Thrives in fast-moving, evolving environments and is motivated by building and continuously elevating a high-impact executive recruitment function.
• Able to function in a fast-moving entrepreneurial environment.
• Humble yet confident, with high self-awareness.
• A strategic thinker yet focused on execution; able to roll up their sleeves to get things done.
• Sound judgment when working through complex issues and when handling confidential information.
• Self-starter with high energy and drive; fast-paced and results-driven; forward-thinking.
• Experimental, ready to learn and open to change.
• Keep the customer at the centre of everything you do.
• Data-driven.
• Committed to building a diverse, inclusive work environment.

Benefits & Perks - Global Impact, Personal Relevance:

Booking.com’s Total Rewards Philosophy is not only about compensation but also about benefits. We offer a competitive compensation and benefits package, as well unique-to-Booking.c