Director, Finance Transformation

Job description

KAYAK, part of Booking Holdings (NASDAQ: BKNG), is the world’s leading travel search engine. With billions of queries across our platforms, we help people find their perfect flight, stay, rental car and vacation package. We’re also transforming business travel with a new corporate travel solution, KAYAK for Business. As an employee of KAYAK, you will be part of a travel company that operates a portfolio of global metasearch brands including momondo, Cheapflights and HotelsCombined, among others. From start-up to industry leader, innovation is in our DNA and every employee has an opportunity to make their mark. Our focus is on building the best travel search engine to make it easier for everyone to experience the world. KAYAK is seeking a Director, Finance Transformation (Finance Systems) to set the strategic direction for our global finance systems, aligning product portfolios with long-term business goals and enterprise architecture! You will lead multiple product areas to ensure that prioritization, governance, and delivery drive measurable business value at scale. This role is responsible for influencing senior stakeholders, developing top-tier product talent, campaigning and driving the Finance departments AI roadmap and strategy and building a cohesive, future-ready systems ecosystem. By moving beyond feature delivery, this leader focuses on strategic outcomes; such as accelerated financial closes, reduced manual effort, and strengthened controls to ensure the finance tech stack acts as a high-leverage asset for the entire organization. This role is required to work from our Norwalk, CT office 3 days per week. In this role, you will: - Set the strategic direction for KAYAK's global finance systems, ensuring technology investments align with business goals and support a scalable, well-governed architecture. - Serve as the primary authority for our NetSuite ERP ecosystem, standardizing workflows across related tools including Pontus (KAYAK’s internal financial reporting system), BlackLine, and FloQast, and own the multi-year Finance Systems roadmap with a focus on shortening close cycles, reducing reconciliation risk, and improving data integrity. - Oversee governance for NetSuite configurations, customizations, and upgrade cycles, balancing agility with SOX requirements, and define integration architecture so that transaction, billing, and reporting systems exchange clean, reliable data. - Lead the development of KAYAK's finance AI and automation roadmap, identifying high-impact opportunities to reduce manual work — and champion AI-driven solutions across forecasting, variance analysis, close coordination, and workforce planning. - Partner with Data Engineering to build a trusted data foundation before applying AI or machine learning on top of financial data, and maintain an AI use-case registry that governs the full lifecycle of automations from discovery to retirement. - Recruit, develop, and retain a high-performing team of Systems Analysts, Finance Systems Product Managers, and Solution Engineers, building clear career paths and a culture of psychological safety, continuous learning, and constructive feedback. - Translate complex, multi-team finance transformation goals into phased delivery plans with clear milestones, owners, and success criteria, while managing capital and operating budgets and keeping scope changes transparent. - Partner with leaders across Accounting, Tax, Treasury, FP&A, Internal Audit, and Engineering to align systems strategy with enterprise finance priorities, and build data-backed business cases to present technology recommendations to the CFO, CAO, and corporate controllers. - Represent Finance Systems priorities in corporate architecture forums and data governance discussions, and create internal moments for innovation — such as demos, showcases, and automation hackathons — to build a culture of continuous improvement. Please apply if you have: - 10+ years of experience in finance systems, enterprise technology, or a related field, with a track record of delivering complex systems at scale; equivalent experience, training, or transferable skills will be considered. - Hands-on experience with NetSuite ERP and familiarity with O2C, P2P, and R2R processes, including experience leading cross-functional transformation projects such as ERP migrations or payment system implementations. - Experience implementing AI-driven or automation-first solutions in a finance or enterprise context. - Ability to build strong relationships across a wide range of teams and navigate complex organizational environments. - Clear, direct communication skills, with experience presenting structured recommendations to senior leadership in both written and verbal formats. - A proactive approach: you anticipate risks and help the organization move forward rather than waiting for problems to surface. - A degree in Accounting, Engineering, Computer Science, Finance, or a related field — or equivalent professional experience. Benefits and Perks - Work from (almost) anywhere for up to 20 days per year - Focus on mental health and well-being: - Company-paid therapy sessions through SpringHealth - Company-paid subscription to HeadSpace - Company-wide week off a year - the whole team fully recharges (and returns without a pile-up of work!) - No meeting Fridays - Paid parental leave - Generous paid vacation + time off for your birthday - Paid volunteer time - Focus on your career growth: - Development Dollars - Leadership development - Access to thousands of on-demand e-learnings - Travel Discounts - Employee Resource Groups - Competitive retirement and health plans - Free lunch 2 days per week 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. The range for this Connecticut based role is $200,000 - 220,000.00 not inclusive of annual bonus and recurring RSU grants. We offer a competitive base salary and benefits including: health benefits; flexible spending account; retirement benefits; life insurance; paid time off (including PTO, paid sick leave, medical leave, bereavement leave, floating holidays and paid holidays); and parental leave benefits. Inclusion At KAYAK, we want everyone to have the space to grow, share ideas and do great work. That's why we're focused on hiring the best talent from all walks of life and experiences, supporting them well and making sure no one feels like they have to fit a mold to belong here. Need any adjustments for the interview, application or on the job? No problem - just give us a heads-up. We've got you. #LI-EI1