Emergency Response Manager

Traveltechessentialist; India; On-site; INR 23,80,000 - 34,00,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading non-profit organization is seeking an experienced Emergency Response Manager to oversee responses during emergencies across the APAC region. The role requires extensive experience in disaster management and strong communication skills to liaise with government and NGO partners. Candidates should be based in India, with a range of responsibilities including strategic planning, operational execution, and team leadership. Competitive compensation structure with a salary range of ₹2,380,000 — ₹3,400,000 INR is offered.

Benefits

Employee Travel Credits

Potential bonuses or incentives

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in disaster response and humanitarian operations.
• Demonstrated track record of leading emergency responses under pressure.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary decision-maker for APAC emergency responses.
• Drive execution of APAC responses ensuring rapid activation.
• Maintain readiness and contribute to strategic improvements.

Skills

Disaster response experience

Strong judgment

Communication skills

Negotiation

Team leadership

Tools

Slack

Google Workspace

Zoom

Job description

Overview

Airbnb.org is on a mission to create the future of emergency housing in times of crisis. We partner with local nonprofits, governments, and hosts to provide safe, welcoming stays for people displaced by disasters, conflict, and other emergencies around the world. Our partners identify and support beneficiaries, coordinate with local authorities, and help deliver services in fast-moving, high-pressure environments. We work to ensure housing is deployed rapidly and equitably when it is needed most.

Within 24 hours of every emergency response activation, our cross-functional objective is to begin providing housing, ensure the public knows how to access support, engage the media with clear messaging, and equip partners with tools and knowledge for beneficiary vetting, intake and case management.

The Difference You Will Make

Airbnb.org is seeking a seasoned Emergency Response Manager with regional expertise and decision-making authority to lead emergency response activations in APAC. This role will focus on executing Airbnb.org’s response operations during active emergencies, ensuring timely coordination with nonprofit partners, government stakeholders and multiple internal teams. It will also design and execute country-by-country emergency response strategies, ensuring that Airbnb.org is ready to respond immediately to disasters.

The APAC Emergency Response Manager will act as Airbnb.org’s operational lead during disasters in the region, guiding cross-functional teams, directing partners, and ensuring outcomes are achieved. They will also contribute to global strategy and readiness by surfacing regional lessons, risks, and innovations.

The Emergency Response Manager will be part of a globally-focused team and will work closely with Partner Development Managers (who lead relationship development and partner onboarding), and will serve as the day-to-day operational counterpart for partners once a response is activated. This is a fast-paced, hands-on role that requires strong judgment, the ability to navigate complexity under pressure and flexibility to work off-hours when emergencies arise in different time zones.

A Typical Day

Regional Leadership & Decision-Making

• Serve as the primary decision-maker for APAC emergency responses, including activation, scale, and demobilization.
• Represent Airbnb.org externally with government and NGO partners, managing partnership agreements under urgent timelines.
• Partner closely with global Emergency Response leadership to shape Airbnb.org’s global model using APAC insights.

Operational Excellence

• Drive execution of APAC responses, ensuring rapid activation within 24 hours of disasters and accountable for metrics such as guest intake speed, housing capacity secured, and partner satisfaction.
• Provide support for disaster responses in other regions as backup during busy periods.
• Anticipate operational risks (legal, political, reputational, safety) and make judgment calls to resolve trade-offs.
• Oversee the development and improvement of regional protocols, playbooks, and surge mechanisms.

Strategic Planning & Readiness

• Maintain readiness across APAC, including scenario planning, surge staffing, and partner capacity-building.
• Contribute to global after-action reviews and advise on strategic improvements to the Airbnb.org disaster response model.
• Monitor disaster and humanitarian trends in APAC, recommending improvements to programs, processes, and partnerships.

Travel

Travel up to 30% within APAC and globally for partner meetings, training, and on-the-ground response coordination.

Your Expertise

• Extensive experience in disaster response, emergency management, humanitarian operations, ideally across APAC and other regions.
• Demonstrated track record of leading emergency responses, negotiating with senior officials, and making rapid operational decisions under pressure.
• Strong judgment in ambiguous, high-stakes environments, with proven ability to balance competing priorities and mitigate risk.
• Adept at synthesizing complex operational information and field insights into clear, actionable updates for internal audiences.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills; able to influence and build trust with both grassroots NGOs and senior government leaders.
• Proven ability to operate independently while leading cross-functional teams in a distributed, fast-paced environment.
• Proficiency in remote collaboration tools (Slack, Google Workspace, Zoom); comfort working across time zones.

Preferred Qualifications

• Multilingual skills relevant to the APAC region. Familiarity with humanitarian cluster systems, crisis coordination models, and case management tools.
• 8 plus years of experience advising or contributing to global humanitarian or disaster response strategy.

Your Location

Position needs to be based within India with openness to travel to the US and/or APAC.

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.

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 shown below is annualized, is inclusive of allowances and is subject to change and may be modified in the future. This role may also be eligible for bonus or incentives, one or more equity programs, benefits, and Employee Travel Credits.

India Pay Range

₹2,380,000 — ₹3,400,000 INR