Staff Backend Engineer

Airbnb

Posted 1mo ago

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Lead technical strategy and hands-on execution of Airbnb's next-generation, AI-powered Growth Engine for paid channels
Architect systems that autonomously manage the full lifecycle of paid campaigns
Set technical direction for the agentic Growth Engine
Make architecture decisions on systems that generate creatives, optimize bids and budgets, and manage audiences
Write and review code hands-on
Establish engineering standards for quality, availability, and system health
Partner directly with Marketing, Product, and Design to translate growth objectives into platform capabilities
Define human-in-the-loop controls that keep autonomous campaigns safe and on-brand
Advance the AI-assisted → agentic → autonomous roadmap
Identify where to introduce automation next and de-risk it through experimentation and staged rollout
Mentor engineers and act as a force multiplier
Level up the team through design reviews, technical guidance, and a collaborative, inclusive culture
Collaborate with ML/AI and data platform teams on models and signals
Integrate deeply with the Airbnb product to understand the customer journey

9+ years of experience in a hands-on software engineering role
Bachelor’s and/or Master’s degree, preferably in CS, or equivalent experience
Hands-on experience leading project teams, setting technical direction and strategy and mentoring engineers
Passionate about efficiency, availability, technical quality and system quality
Passion to level up those around you through curiosity and fostering a collaborative and inclusive team environment
Proven experience in defining product/technical strategy and driving alignment with cross-functional leaders and stakeholders
Strong communication and collaboration skills with experience driving initiatives that span across teams, departments and leadership

Hands-on experience with paid advertising platforms (Meta, Google, or similar) — you understand how the ecosystem works, not just the engineering surface

Skills