[Hiring] Staff Software Engineer, Airfam Products @Airbnb

Role Description

The Airfam Products team exists to make every Airbnb employee more productive through a unified digital headquarters experience. As part of a 10-person cross-functional team of engineers, designers, researchers, and product managers, you'll work on platforms that serve Airbnb's entire global workforce.

Our portfolio includes:

• One Airbnb (the company's internal cultural hub with enterprise search, people profiles, and AI-powered chat)
• OneChat (Airbnb's enterprise ChatGPT enabling secure LLM interactions)
• A suite of tools that power how employees discover information, connect with colleagues, and get work done

As a Staff Engineer on the Airfam Products team, you'll be the technical backbone for Airbnb's next generation of AI-powered employee experience platforms. Your work will be a force multiplier for the entire company—every tool you build, every architecture decision you make, and every engineer you mentor will amplify productivity across Airbnb's global workforce.

You will:

• Shape technical vision for platforms that serve 10,000+ employees across multiple regions
• Drive company-wide impact by defining how AI and LLM technologies are integrated into the employee experience
• Elevate engineering excellence by establishing best practices, architectural patterns, and quality standards that influence teams beyond Airfam Products
• Transform prototypes into production by taking AI-powered innovations from concept to enterprise-grade deployment

A typical day includes:

• Leading the technical vision and architecture for Airfam Products' platform, ensuring scalability, reliability, and maintainability across a multi-cloud environment
• 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, including LLM-powered features for OneChat and enterprise search
• Driving cross-organizational technical initiatives, coordinating with Infrastructure, Security, and Product teams to deliver company-wide solutions
• Mentoring and developing engineers across multiple levels (L7-L9), conducting design reviews, architecture discussions, and providing hands-on guidance
• Defining and evolving engineering best practices, establishing standards for testing, observability, and operational excellence
• Evaluating emerging technologies and AI development strategies, determining how to leverage innovations like agentic development and coding assistants
• Troubleshooting complex production issues, leading incident response and driving durable remediation through root cause analysis
• Balancing hands-on technical contributions (code reviews, system design, debugging) with leadership activities that multiply team effectiveness
• Representing Airbnb engineering at internal forums and, when appropriate, at external conferences and industry events

Qualifications

• 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
• BS in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience

Requirements

• 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

Benefits

Our job titles may span more than one career level. The actual base pay is dependent upon many factors, such as: training, transferable skills, work experience, business needs and market demands. The base pay range is subject to change and may be modified in the future. This role may also be eligible for bonus, equity, benefits, and Employee Travel Credits.

Pay Range: $204,000 — $255,000 USD