Staff Machine Learning Engineer, Airbnb
AI Experience
$212-276.5k
More information about location
Community marketplace for holiday accomodation
Be an early applicant
Community marketplace for holiday accomodation
1001+ employees
Be an early applicant
$212-276.5k
More information about location
1001+ employees
Company mission
To create a world where anyone can belong anywhere.
Role
Who you are
- 5+ years of professional machine learning engineering experience, including proven leadership on AI/ML projects at scale, ideally at the Staff Engineer level or above
- Hands-on experience building and shipping generative AI solutions, emphasizing Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), agentic workflows, and large language models
- Demonstrated success improving AI data quality through synthetic data techniques, adversarial testing, or advanced data annotation pipelines
- Strong proficiency in backend engineering and cloud-based architectures that support high-volume, real-time AI workloads
- Excellent communication skills and a track record of cross-functional collaboration, translating complex technical concepts into actionable insights for varied audiences
- Passion for responsible and ethical AI, designing solutions with guardrails that prioritize accuracy, user trust, and inclusiveness
What the job involves
- Join Airbnb’s new AI Experience Team—a collaborative group of engineers, designers, and product managers focused on creating modern, AI-powered interfaces that transform how our guests and hosts engage with Airbnb
- We’re building the “ultimate concierge”, a next-generation platform that leverages generative AI and agentic systems to deliver deeply personalized and adaptive user experiences
- As a Staff Machine Learning Engineer, you bring specialized depth and breadth of expertise to lead complex AI initiatives
- You will architect solutions that push the boundaries of what’s possible, drive innovation across diverse teams, and guide key projects from conception to production
- Your work will shape Airbnb’s AI-forward future
- From prototyping agentic multi-step workflows to integrating Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), you will be developing cutting-edge systems that move beyond 2000s-era user interfaces toward intuitive, real-time AI experiences
- Your contributions will be integral to transforming the Airbnb app into an ever-evolving platform that knows you, adapts to your needs, and drives our broader mission of creating a world where anyone can belong anywhere
- Architect and develop large-scale AI solutions, from data pipelines and fine-tuning methodologies to multi-step agentic workflows, transforming Airbnb’s platform into a deeply personalized and intelligent concierge
- Collaborate with cross-functional partners to develop prototypes that push the boundaries of generative AI, then transition them into high-impact production features
- Develop prototypes that embed state-of-the-art generative AI capabilities, ensuring they meet production-level metrics for reliability, scalability, and ethical alignment
- Drive data quality, leveraging advanced synthetic data generation techniques and robust analytics to continuously improve AI performance
- Serve as a technical mentor, conducting knowledge-sharing sessions and code reviews that uplift team-wide expertise in AI and machine learning
- Present progress, insights, and strategic recommendations to senior leadership, influencing the broader AI roadmap at Airbnb
- As a Staff Machine Learning Engineer on the AI Experience Team, your work will directly impact millions of guests and hosts worldwide, transforming how people explore, connect, and belong anywhere
Our take
When Airbnb was originally founded, the product helped customers book air mattresses on people's apartment floors. Since then, Airbnb has had over a billion customers hosted through its platform. With more than 4 million registered hosts worldwide, it has grown into a major player in the hospitality sector.
Airbnb has been successful in disrupting the traditional holiday lettings sector. Before it existed accommodation was limited to hotels and bed and breakfasts, but Airbnb has mainstreamed the idea of renting out spare rooms or even entire homes. It has created a new sector of hosts purchasing properties to rent out on the platform and provides a level of flexibility and a range of offerings not previously possible for travelers.
Perhaps a victim of its own success, by 2022 supply of Airbnb-listed properties began to outstrip demand in some markets, as hosts overestimated the appetite for domestic travel. However, the company is still posting strong financials and has unveiled new tools to support its hosts in a tougher rental market. With a healthy bottom line and a huge user base, Airbnb is very likely to overcome the current market turbulence and continue its growth.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
25% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 10 rounds)
Apr 2020
$500m
GROWTH EQUITY VC
Mar 2017
$447.8m
SERIES F
Total funding: $3.8bn
Company benefits
- Paid volunteer time
- Health food and snacks
- Generous parental and family leave
- Learning and development
- Annual travel and experiences credit
Company HQ
Showplace Square, San Francisco, CA
Leadership
Brian Chesky
(Co-Founder & CEO)Previously an Industrial Designer, studying at Rhode Island School of Design.
Nathan Blecharczyk
(Co-Founder & CSO)Studied Computer Science at Harvard, and had around 4 years of professional Software Engineering experience before founding Airbnb, including interning at Microsoft.
Joe Gebbia
(Co-Founder)Also studied Industrial Design at Rhode Island, and previously founded various design-related startups
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