Senior Staff Engineer, Guest & Host (Host Listings & Quality)

Airbnb was born in 2007 when two hosts welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home, and has since grown to over 5 million hosts who have welcomed over 2 billion guest arrivals in almost every country across the globe. Every day, hosts offer unique stays and experiences that make it possible for guests to connect with communities in a more authentic way.

The Community You Will Join
As a Senior Staff Engineer on Airbnbs Guest & Host team, youll set the technical direction for the backend platforms at the core of our marketplace. These systems store and serve listing data for Stays, Experiences, and Services, and they decide whether each listing is searchable, visible, and bookable. They also uphold the quality bar for hosts through ML, enforcement, and host guidance. As AI-assisted features and agents become first-class clients of these systems, youll shape how our APIs, data provenance, and architecture evolve to stay stable, simple, and extensible. Youll partner with engineers across Guest & Host, Trust, Infrastructure, and our AI Platform team to define how listings and quality architecture fits with the rest of Airbnb.
Set the multi-year technical strategy and roadmap for Listings and Quality backend, and bring the team and stakeholders along.
Partner with AI Platform, Trust, Infrastructure, and Product teams to shape how Listings and Quality architecture fits with the rest of Airbnb, and set the platform contracts between them.
Design APIs, data models, and data provenance so the platform can safely support AI-assisted features and agents.
Raise the bar on reliability and engineering practices, and reduce operational load on systems in critical business paths.
4+ years of experience in an Architect or Staff Engineer role, with ownership responsibility over large-scale software systems.
~ Strong product and platform judgment. You understand how backend architecture choices shape product velocity, and you design for the needs of product teams, hosts, and AI clients.
~ Track record of setting a multi-year technical vision for a core platform and delivering it incrementally, such as consolidating services, finishing major migrations, or platformizing shared capabilities.
~ Deep backend expertise in distributed systems, data modeling, and API design for large-scale, business-critical platforms, using Java, Kotlin, or similar languages.
~ Experience designing APIs and data systems for AI-assisted features and agents, including data provenance, validation, and guardrails.
~ Excellent engineering skills and a strong operational mindset, with a track record of improving reliability and reducing operational load on systems in critical business paths.
~ Strong communication and influence across orgs and platform teams, including AI/ML platforms. Demonstrated ability to set platform contracts, align stakeholders, and raise the bar for senior and staff engineers through mentorship.
~ A proven track record of fostering a culture of Diversity and Belonging, within the organization and across the tech community

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. This list is continuously evolving, so please check back with us if the state you live in is on the exclusion list. Our Commitment To Inclusion & Belonging:
We strive to also provide a disability inclusive application and interview process. If you are a candidate with a disability and require reasonable accommodation in order to submit an application, please contact us at: ask that you only reach out to us if you are a candidate whose disability prevents you from being able to complete our online application.
Airbnb values diversity & belonging and is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. All individuals seeking employment at Airbnb are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, gender, sex, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected characteristic.
The actual base pay is dependent upon many factors, such as: training, transferable skills, work experience, business needs and market demands. This role may also be eligible for bonus, equity, benefits, and Employee Travel Credits.
Reasonable Accommodations:

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations throughout the recruitment process for applicants with disabilities. A Note on Recruiting Scams:

Scammers sometimes pose as Airbnb recruiters to get money or personal information from candidates. Our recruiters will never ask for your Social Security number, bank account details, passport, or payment app information while you are interviewing. We’ll also never ask you to pay a fee, send money, deposit or cash a check, or purchase work-related equipment (such as a company laptop) during the interview process.