Senior Machine Learning Engineer, Customer Support Engineering

Socket.dev; United States; On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Airbnb is looking for an experienced Machine Learning Engineer to join their Community Support Products team. You will work on developing innovative AI technologies to enhance customer service and support.

The ideal candidate holds a PhD or Master’s in Computer Science and has over 4 years of ML engineering experience. Fluency in English and Mandarin is essential. Join us to transform customer experiences leveraging cutting-edge ML in various applications.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of ML engineering experience, with ownership responsibility over large-scale software systems.
• Experience with LLM driven chatbot and Agentic AI products is a big plus.
• Passion for building efficient and scalable ML-powered products.

Responsibilities

• Envision, champion, and support the development of novel ML systems, product integrations, and performance optimizations.
• Work cross-functionally to design and build efficient AI solutions for Airbnb CS products.
• Learn and share the latest AI/ML technologies with the team across regions.

Skills

Machine Learning Engineering

AI Systems Development

Communication

Cross-functional Collaboration

Fluency in English and Mandarin

Education

PhD/Master’s degree in Computer Science or equivalent experience

Job description

Airbnb was born in 2007 when two hosts welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home, and has since grown to over 5 million hosts who have welcomed over 2 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.

Your Location:

This position is CHINA BASED. The role may include occasional work at an Airbnb office or attendance at offsites, as agreed to with your manager. Your recruiter will inform you what cities you are able to work from depending on your personal legal working identity and Airbnb internal policies.

The Community You Will Join:

Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence are at the heart of the Airbnb product. From Trust to Payments, and from Customer Service to Marketing we rely on ML to ensure that guests and hosts have the best possible experience with Airbnb.

The Community Support Products (CSP) Machine Learning team is the core team responsible for driving CSxAI (Customer Support x Artificial Intelligence) initiatives by adopting the Generative AI technologies to enable an intelligent, scalable and exceptional service experience. The team develops and enhances various AI models, ML services and tools including LLM fine‑tuning and optimization, RAG/Search, LLM evaluation and testing automation, feedback‑based learning and guardrail for a wide range of applications in Airbnb.

The richness of Airbnb's data, the complexity of its marketplace and the variety innate in our product mean that we need to operate at the state of the art of AI practice. We are committed to investing in long‑term innovation to solve the complex problems we face, and to do that we need the very best experts in ML and AI to join us.

The Difference You Will Make:

We believe our current customer experiences in these domains are only scratching the surface of the innovations that are possible, and that science is at the heart of delivering a step‑function change for our Guest and Host on Airbnb.

You will build and leverage cutting edge AI technologies to transform Airbnb’s customer service by delivering personalized, easy‑to‑use and proactive customer service experience.

Many of the initiatives you’ll tackle are in their early conceptual stages. You will have the opportunity to shape these ideas from inception to production, turning visionary concepts into impactful realities.

A Typical Day:

• Envision, champion, and support the development of novel ML systems, product integrations, and performance optimizations to solve real‑world problems

• Work cross‑functionally with product, design, and other engineering counterparts to design and build efficient AI solutions for Airbnb CS products

• Learn and share the latest AI/ML technologies with the team across regions (China and the US).

Your Expertise:

• PhD/Master’s degree, preferably in CS, or equivalent experience
• 4+ years of ML engineering experience, with ownership responsibility over large‑scale software systems.
• Background in the design and development of AI and ML systems and services, and a deep passion for building efficient and scalable ML‑powered products
• Experience with LLM driven chatbot and Agentic AI products would be a big plus
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to work well within a team and with teams across the engineering, product & design organizations
• Fluency in both English and Mandarin is essential.

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.