Research Operations Specialist: Contracts, Vendors & Spend (contract)

Airbnb; New York (NY); On-site; USD 138,000 - 165,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical

Dental

Vision

401K

Job summary

Airbnb is seeking a Procurement & Contracts Operations partner to run spend lifecycle for researchers, manage vendor onboarding, and align with Finance. You will handle vendor communications, NDAs, MSAs, SOWs, and ensure regional compliance across markets while exploring AI-enabled efficiencies.

The role requires strong Airtable, Zip, Oracle or Coupa experience, robust contract reading skills, and a systems-thinking approach to streamline intake, procurement, and spend across a fast-paced

Qualifications

• Experience in procurement, contracts administration, or vendor operations in a research, insights, or tech environment.
• Fluency with procure-to-pay systems such as Zip, Oracle, or Coupa, and hands-on Airtable skills.
• Ability to read contract terms and know when to engage Legal, with regional awareness.

Responsibilities

• Own spend-request intake through Airtable, Zip, and Oracle, including PO changes, invoice and requisition approvals.
• Onboard and offboard vendors and tools end to end: NDAs, risk/privacy review, legal routing, and tool access.
• Facilitate MSAs, SOWs, NDAs, and renewals with Legal and Procurement across regions.
• Maintain contract repository, agency trackers, and master supplier list; track renewals at 30/60/90 days.
• Act as liaison to Finance and research leads: spend-tracker upkeep, forecast inputs, monthly budget reviews.
• Support vendor evaluation and consolidation, including data-use, model-training, and DPA terms for AI tools.
• Represent researchers in scoping and negotiation, translating study needs into commercial terms.

Skills

Procurement

Contract administration

Vendor operations

Airtable

Zip/Oracle/Coupa

Vendor onboarding

Education

Tools

Zip

Oracle

Coupa

Airtable

Salesforce

DocuSign

Job description

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 more than 100,000 cities and towns located in 220+ countries and regions across the globe. Every day, Hosts offer unique stays and one-of-a-kind activities that make it possible for guests to experience the world in a more authentic, connected way.

Airbnb was born with a creative spirit, and it’s one of the most defining parts of our culture. We use our curiosity and imagination to come up with unconventional solutions. These are the ideas at the core of Airbnb:

• Our community is based on connection and belonging.
• Our creativity allows us to imagine new possibilities for people.
• Our responsibility is to all of our stakeholders.
• It takes a unified team committed to our core values to embody these ideas, and our fast-moving team is committed to leading as a 21st century company

About the role:

You run the commercial and financial operations of Airbnb's Research team, supporting roughly sixty researchers and a large vendor and agency portfolio. You own the contract and spend lifecycle for vendors and agencies, serve as the operations liaison to Finance, and represent researchers' needs in vendor and contract conversations so they can stay focused on the work. Across all of it, you look for ways to optimize and streamline, ideally leveraging AI.

Responsibilities:

• Own spend-request intake through Airtable, Zip, and Oracle, including PO change orders and invoice and requisition approvals.
• Onboard and offboard vendors and tools end to end: supplier questionnaires, NDAs, third-party risk and privacy review, legal routing, and tool access such as SSO and MCP/API connections.
• Facilitate MSAs, SOWs, NDAs, and renewals with Legal and Procurement across regions, navigating the different legal, procurement, and data requirements of markets such as EMEA and China.
• Maintain the contract repository, all agency retainer trackers, and the master supplier list; track renewals at 30, 60, and 90 days.
• Act as the operations liaison to Finance and research leads: spend-tracker upkeep, quarterly forecast inputs, monthly budget reviews, and the Research and Finance sync.
• Support vendor evaluation and consolidation, including data-use, model-training, and DPA terms for AI tools.
• Represent researchers in scoping and negotiation, translating study needs into commercial terms.

Cross-functional partnerships and needs:

• Act as Research's primary liaison to Commercial Legal, Privacy, Third Party Security, Procurement, Strategic Sourcing, Finance, and Accounts Payable, coordinating NDA, MSA, SOW, DPA, and purchase order workflows across Zip, Oracle, Salesforce, and DocuSign.
• Anticipate and unblock cross-functional review gates (privacy, security, AI, sourcing thresholds, regional signature processes), setting expectations with researchers on timelines and escalating proactively when reviews stall.
• Upkeep of Research's operating dataset in Airtable, including project and supplier bases.
• Knowledge-management support for the shared drive and research repository.
• Help maintain the team's tools and AI hub.

Qualifications:

• Experience in procurement, contracts administration, or vendor operations, ideally in a research, insights, or tech environment.
• Fluency with procure-to-pay systems such as Zip, Oracle, or Coupa, and hands-on Airtable skills.
• Comfort reading contract terms and knowing when to engage Legal.
• Familiarity with how contracting, procurement, and privacy requirements differ across regions and markets, and the judgment to adapt processes accordingly.
• Working knowledge of how research operates, enough to speak for researchers and spot when a scope does not fit the need.
• A systems thinker who sees the bigger picture across intake, contracts, and spend, gets ahead of problems, and proactively finds ways to make the work more efficient.
• Highly organized, detail-driven, and a clear, proactive communicator with finance and vendor partners.

Nice to have:

Time in or alongside a market research, consumer insights, or UX research team; experience working with AI tools day to day, and ideally building with them, such as automations, agents, or AI-assisted workflows; Airtable automation experience. Core systems: Zip, Oracle, Salesforce, Airtable

Belonging & Accommodations:

Airbnb is committed to working with the best and brightest people from the broadest talent pool possible. We believe a diversity of ideas foster innovation and engagement, and allows us to attract the best people, and to develop the best products, services and solutions. All qualified individuals are encouraged to apply. If you need assistance, or reasonable accommodation during the application and recruiting process, please connect with your talent sourcing partner.

Pay Rate Range: $100-$120/hr

• Medical
• Dental
• Vision
• 401K