Senior Software Engineer, Payments Platform

Airbnb; United States; Hybrid; USD 196,000 - 227,000; Full time

Job summary

Airbnb is seeking a backend software engineer to join the Payments Platform Engineering team. You will design and build scalable, highly available services that process massive daily transactions and support end-to-end payment features across the Airbnb marketplace.

In a microservices environment, you will own APIs, data pipelines, testing, and observability, collaborating with product managers, data scientists, and operations to deliver reliable, data-driven payment solutions globally.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of backend software engineering experience, ideally in Payments or Fintech.
• Proficiency in Java and/or Kotlin, and comfort working within a microservices environment (RPC frameworks, service IDLs, dependency injection), plus familiarity with React or a similar JavaScript framework.
• Experience with architectural patterns of large, high‑scale web applications, such as well‑designed APIs, high‑volume data pipelines, and efficient algorithms.
• Experience delivering products end‑to‑end, including A/B testing.
• Commitment to code quality, automated testing, and engineering best practices.
• Strong communication skills and attention to detail, with experience collaborating in cross‑functional teams.
• Ability to make data‑driven decisions and clearly articulate technical tradeoffs.
• Bachelor's and/or Master's degree, preferably in CS, or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

• Design and build service-oriented, modular, observable backend systems with well‑defined APIs.
• Partner with product managers, data scientists, and operations to turn evolving business needs into product features.
• Take features from ideation through planning, scoping, implementation, and experimental A/B testing.
• Set up and tune monitoring and alerting to raise the quality and reliability of our systems.
• Write high‑quality, well‑tested code and review others' code to uphold engineering best practices.
• Work with other engineering teams across Airbnb to improve our engineering process and technical foundation.

Skills

Java

Kotlin

Microservices

APIs

React

JavaScript

A/B testing

Communication

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in CS

Tools

RPC frameworks

Service IDLs

Dependency Injection

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.

The Community You Will Join:

You’ll join the Payments Platform Engineering team, which owns everything involved in settling money in Airbnb’s global marketplace, from collecting guest payments to paying out hosts. The team builds the platform behind all of Airbnb’s lines of business, across infrastructure, core payment services, and user‑facing payment experiences. You’ll work closely with product managers, data scientists, designers, and operations, as well as engineering teams across Airbnb.

The Difference You Will Make:

You’ll design and build the next generation of Airbnb’s Payments Platform: scalable, highly available systems that process massive daily transaction volume. Success means shipping reliable, well‑instrumented services and product features end‑to‑end, with strong code quality and observability, while making Airbnb the safest and easiest‑to‑use payments platform.

A Typical Day:

• Design and build service-oriented, modular, observable backend systems with well‑defined APIs.
  
• Partner with product managers, data scientists, and operations to turn evolving business needs into product features.
  
• Take features from ideation through planning, scoping, implementation, and experimental A/B testing.
  
• Set up and tune monitoring and alerting to raise the quality and reliability of our systems.
  
• Write high‑quality, well‑tested code and review others' code to uphold engineering best practices.
  
• Work with other engineering teams across Airbnb to improve our engineering process and technical foundation.
  

Your Expertise:

• 5+ years of backend software engineering experience, ideally in Payments or Fintech.
• Proficiency in Java and/or Kotlin, and comfort working within a microservices environment (RPC frameworks, service IDLs, dependency injection), plus familiarity with React or a similar JavaScript framework.
• Experience with architectural patterns of large, high‑scale web applications, such as well‑designed APIs, high‑volume data pipelines, and efficient algorithms.
• Experience delivering products end‑to‑end, including A/B testing.
• Commitment to code quality, automated testing, and engineering best practices.
• Strong communication skills and attention to detail, with experience collaborating in cross‑functional teams.
• Ability to make data‑driven decisions and clearly articulate technical tradeoffs.
• Bachelor's and/or Master's degree, preferably in CS, or equivalent experience.

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: [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.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Airbnb values diversity & belonging and is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. All individuals seeking employment at Airbnb are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, gender, sex, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected characteristic.

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.

Pay Range

$196,000 — $227,000 USD

Reasonable Accommodations:

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations throughout the recruitment process for applicants with disabilities. If you need assistance, or an accommodation, please let your recruiter know once you are contacted about a role.

A Note on Recruiting Scams:

Scammers sometimes pose as Airbnb recruiters to get money or personal information from candidates. A few things that will always be true for Airbnb’s hiring process: our open roles are posted on Airbnb’s Career’s Page at careers.airbnb.com, and our recruiters correspond only from @airbnb.com or @ext.airbnb.com email addresses. Our recruiters will never ask for your Social Security number, bank account details, passport, or payment app information while you are interviewing. We’ll also never ask you to pay a fee, send money, deposit or cash a check, or purchase work‑related equipment (such as a company laptop) during the interview process. We encourage candidates to remain vigilant of these recruiting scams and not share sensitive information if you do not believe an individual is actually affiliated with Airbnb.