Staff Software Engineer, Search Infrastructure

The Community You Will Join:

Airbnb is a mission-driven company dedicated to helping create a world where anyone can belong anywhere. It takes a unified team committed to our core values to achieve this goal. Airbnb's various functions embody the company's innovative spirit and our fast-moving team is committed to leading as a 21st century company.

Search is at the core of the Airbnb marketplace that connects our guests and hosts. It helps guests find the best homes and experiences to fit their needs and wants. We collaborate with cross-functional partners to revolutionize Airbnb search experience, and advance Airbnb's mission to help anyone feel like they can belong anywhere.

The Difference You Will Make:

• Lead search infrastructure engineering projects to improve search experience, in collaboration with product teams.
• Up-level search system reliability, scalability and performance, in collaboration with Infrastructure teams.
• Build the next generation search platform to power different products at Airbnb, including generative AI (large language model) use cases.
• Mentor, advocate and support the career growth of individual contributors

A Typical Day: 

• Attend a design workshop for the next generation search platform.
• Give a presentation to senior leadership about the plan for the search platform.
• A large trunk of focus time to implement an important component of the search platform, with state-of-the-art LLM as your assistant.
• Discuss with cross-functional partners (e.g., product managers, designers) on the technical design of an exciting new search feature.
• Have a 1:1 mentoring session with a principal engineer.
• Attend an in-person gathering with team members and partners.

Your Expertise:

• BS/MS/PhD in Computer Science, a related field, or equivalent work experience.
• 9+ years of industry experience with a BS/Masters, and 6+ years with a PhD.
• Expertise in search and recommendation systems.
• Experience with applying GenAI/LLM technologies on search is a plus.
• A track record of tech-leading engineering teams to deliver technical solutions with high quality.
• Great communication skills in collaboration with cross-functional partners.

Your Location:

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. Click here for the up-to-date list of excluded states. This list is continuously evolving, so please check back with us if the state you live in is on the exclusion list . If your position is employed by another Airbnb entity, your recruiter will inform you what states you are eligible to work from.

Our Commitment To Inclusion & Belonging:

Airbnb is committed to working with the broadest talent pool possible. We believe diverse ideas foster innovation and engagement, and allow us to attract creatively-led people, and to develop the best products, services and solutions. All qualified individuals are encouraged to apply.

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: [email protected]. Please include your full name, the role you’re applying for and the accommodation necessary to assist you with the recruiting process. 

We 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.