Senior Programs & Business Operations Lead

airbnb, Inc.; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Airbnb is seeking a Senior Programs & Business Operations Lead to drive merchandising and discoverability for Experiences in the United States. You will partner with Product, Engineering and Supply, build dashboards, and translate data into actionable roadmap decisions.

The role requires 12+ years in operations or strategy within marketplace contexts, with strong analytics and communication skills to influence senior stakeholders and shape prioritization across teams.

Qualifications

• 12+ years in business operations, product operations, or strategy, ideally at a marketplace or consumer platform.
• Strong analytical foundation: comfortable in the data, building measurement, and turning insight into operating decisions.
• Proven experience partnering with Product and Engineering on ranking, search, personalization, or merchandising.
• Able to navigate ambiguity and drive alignment across senior stakeholders with competing mandates.
• Clear communicator who can influence a technical roadmap at a senior level without owning it directly.

Responsibilities

• Own merchandising and discoverability strategy, partnering with Product, Eng and Supply on ranking and personalization.
• Build the reporting layer to measure discoverability and surface results to leadership.
• Drive alignment on ownership and clarify where merchandising is a demand vs. supply function.

Skills

Business ops

Product ops

Strategy

Analytics

Stakeholder mgmt

Cross-functional

Data-driven

Tools

SQL

Job description

Senior Programs & Business Operations Lead

United States

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.

The Community You Will Join:

The Experiences team is responsible for scaling a curated, high-quality supply of unique activities hosted by local creators, iconic businesses, and operators worldwide and we're at an inflection point.

How we surface Experiences is one of the biggest untapped demand levers we have. Recent signals (manual ranking outperforming the algorithm in places) point to a real gap: no one owns the demand-side merchandising strategy that sits on top of ranking. This role fills that gap. It is a biz ops and product ops hybrid focused on discoverability and merchandising: what we surface, to whom, and when.

The Difference You Will Make:

As a Senior Business Operations Lead, you will own the merchandising strategy, partner deeply with Supply, Product, and Engineering on ranking and personalization, and build the reporting layer that tells us whether discoverability is improving. This role sits closer to Product and Eng than the other demand roles, so comfort driving a senior product partnership and influencing a technical roadmap is essential.

You will report to the Director of Business Growth for Experiences and collaborate closely with others, including our SEM/SEO/Display lead, to ensure channel strategies are coherent and non-duplicative.

A Typical Day:

Own merchandising & discoverability strategy

• Define the demand-side merchandising strategy on top of ranking: placement, sequencing, and the logic for what surfaces to which guests
• Push for dynamic, context-aware ranking (day of week, availability, trends, market, traveler type) and represent the demand point of view in that roadmap
• Prioritize experiments that improve discoverability and translate results into decisions

Partner with Product, Eng & Supply

• Serve as the senior demand counterpart to Product and Engineering on matching, personalization, and ranking
• Clarify where merchandising is a demand mandate vs. a supply/product mandate, and drive alignment on ownership
• Keep the product-to-ops conversation active, including through periods of reduced Product coverage

Build the reporting layer

• Stand up dashboards and measurement for discoverability, spotlights, and placement performance
• Close analytics and tooling gaps that limit how fast the team can learn and iterate
• Bring a data-driven point of view on where merchandising investment pays off

Your Expertise:

• 12+ years in business operations, product operations, or strategy, ideally at a marketplace or consumer platform
• Strong analytical foundation: comfortable in the data, building measurement, and turning insight into operating decisions
• Proven experience partnering with Product and Engineering on ranking, search, personalization, or merchandising
• Able to navigate ambiguity and drive alignment across senior stakeholders with competing mandates
• Clear communicator who can influence a technical roadmap at a senior level without owning it directly

Nice to have

• Background in search/ranking, recommendations, or merchandising systems
• SQL or equivalent hands-on analytics capability

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: [e-mail] . 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.