Description
Airbnb is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to join the Airfam Products team. As a Staff Engineer, you will be responsible for shaping the technical vision for platforms that serve 10,000+ employees across multiple regions. You will drive company-wide impact by defining how AI and LLM technologies are integrated into the employee experience. You will elevate engineering excellence by establishing best practices, architectural patterns, and quality standards that influence teams beyond Airfam Products.
A typical day for this role will involve leading the technical vision and architecture for Airfam Products' platform, ensuring scalability, reliability, and maintainability across a multi-cloud environment. You will partner with engineering directors and cross-functional leaders to align platform investments with Airbnb's strategic priorities. You will architect and implement production-ready AI/ML-integrated systems, including LLM-powered features for OneChat and enterprise search.
Key responsibilities include:
- Leading the technical vision and architecture for Airfam Products' platform
- Partnering with engineering directors and cross-functional leaders to align platform investments with Airbnb's strategic priorities
- Architecting and implementing production-ready AI/ML-integrated systems
- Driving cross-organizational technical initiatives
- Mentoring and developing engineers across multiple levels
- Defining and evolving engineering best practices
- Evaluating emerging technologies and AI development strategies
- Troubleshooting complex production issues
Requirements include:
- 10+ years of software engineering experience, with 5+ years working on distributed systems at scale
- Track record of leading complex technical initiatives from concept to delivery at cross-team or company-wide scale
- Expert proficiency in modern programming languages such as TypeScript, Python, Go, or Java
- Deep experience with cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, or similar), including containerization and orchestration (Kubernetes)
- Strong background in API design and implementation (REST, GraphQL), with focus on performance and developer experience
- Demonstrated experience building and optimizing systems that integrate with AI/ML services and LLM technologies
- Experience mentoring engineers at various career stages and driving engineering culture through best practices and documentation
- Excellent cross-functional collaboration skills with ability to influence without authority across organizational boundaries
- Clear communicator who can translate technical concepts for executives and stakeholders while maintaining technical depth
Preferred qualifications include:
- Experience building enterprise-grade internal tools and developer productivity platforms
- Familiarity with infrastructure-as-code tools such as Terraform
- Experience with large-scale messaging systems (Kafka) and data pipelines
- Background in frontend technologies (React, Next.js) and full-stack development
- MS in Computer Science or related technical field
- Experience with AI-assisted development tools and agentic development strategies
This position is US - Remote Eligible. The role may include occasional work at an Airbnb office or attendance at offsites, as agreed to with your manager. While the position is Remote Eligible, you must live in a state where Airbnb, Inc. has a registered entity.