Principal Engineer, Booking

Airbnb was born in 2007 when two Hosts welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home, and has since grown to over 4 million Hosts who have welcomed more than 1 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:

At Airbnb, our mission is to create a world where anyone can belong anywhere. We aim to provide our users with unique travel experiences by connecting them with local hosts across the globe. Your contributions will shape Airbnb's user experience and strengthen our commitment to delivering exceptional stays for our guests and hosts. Our work on the Core Booking Flow is critical to this mission.

The Booking & Pricing organization has a wide array of mission-critical responsibilities across the Guest and Host experience, including merchandising listings, booking and reservation management, and pricing & calendar systems.

The Difference You Will Make:

As a Principal Engineer for the Booking & Pricing team, you will lead the architecture and design of underlying systems that power Airbnb’s core booking flows. You will spearhead initiatives to enhance user product flows, data management, and system integrations across the company, ensuring scalability, performance, and reliability at a global scale.

A Typical Day:

• Define the long-term architectural vision for our Booking systems, focusing on scalability, performance, and security.
• Drive the design and implementation of high-impact projects that enhance user experience and data integrity across all user interactions.
• Lead cross-functional collaboration with Product, Legal, Data Science, and Engineering teams to deliver holistic, high-quality, user-centric solutions.
• Advocate for and implement best practices and standards in system design, development, and maintenance.
• Provide technical mentorship and guidance to engineering teams, fostering a culture of excellence and continuous learning.
• Influence company-wide technology decisions and contribute to the broader architectural roadmap.

Your Expertise:

• BS, MS, or PhD in computer science, related field, or equivalent work experience.
• 15+ years of software engineering experience, with a significant portion dedicated to system architecture and design in consumer-facing technology companies.
• Strong leadership skills, with 5+ years of experience as a senior-level technical lead or architect, driving the technical direction and strategy across multiple teams or projects.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with a proven track record of working effectively across teams and organizations.
• Demonstrated expertise in building and scaling high-availability systems and platforms, with a deep understanding of service-oriented architecture.
• Deep knowledge of Marketplace products/systems such as Checkout or Payments is highly desirable but not mandatory.

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.

How We'll Take Care of You:

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.

How We'll Take Care of You:

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.