Senior Staff Data Engineer, Foundational Data

Bazeta; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 190,000 - 270,000; Full time

Job summary

Airbnb is seeking a Senior Staff Data Engineer to lead the technical strategy for the Foundation Data team. You will design and implement foundational datasets, data models, and scalable pipelines that power product decisions and self-service analytics across the company.

You will mentor engineers, drive data standards, review designs, and partner with data scientists, product, and finance teams. The role is US remote eligible, with occasional office visits as needed.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience designing and building data pipelines and data models.
• Expertise in data modeling, including dimensional modeling and normalization.
• Experience with Airflow, SQL, and Spark (Python/Scala); DBT is a plus.
• Strong track record in optimizing query performance, cost, and reliability.
• Experience leading technical strategy and mentoring senior engineers.
• Excellent cross-functional communication with engineering, product, data science, and finance teams.
• Background in cloud-native data systems and distributed architectures.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and own foundational data pipelines and data models.
• Lead architecture and infrastructure work to enhance foundational data capabilities.
• Partner with data scientists and product teams to define data models for self-service analytics.
• Drive data quality, monitoring, and reliability across pipelines.
• Set engineering best practices and data standards; lead technical design reviews.
• Mentor data engineers and guide the team on complex challenges.
• Collaborate with cross-functional partners to align data infrastructure with business goals.

Skills

Data pipelines design

Data modeling

Mentoring

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication

Education

Computer Science degree

Tools

Airflow

SQL

Spark (Python/Scala)

DBT

AWS

GCP

Snowflake

BigQuery

Databricks

Presto

Job description

# Senior Staff Data Engineer, Foundational DataUnited States47 minutes agoID 5136758Price on request## DetailsEmployment type: Full-timeRemote: YesCompany: Airbnb## DescriptionAirbnb 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 Data is central to all our decision-making, driving our operations, user experience, and strategic direction. At Airbnb, we are looking for an experienced data engineer to join our Foundation Data team. This team powers the foundational datasets and the self-service data experience that enables teams to focus on using data to improve our products, drive data-informed decisions, and create amazing experiences for hosts and guests. The Foundation Data team is responsible for many important foundational datasets such as our product data, cloud costs, traffic data, and bot data. We collaborate with many stakeholders including data scientists, data engineers, product engineers, and product managers to identify key problems and build solutions that drive data-informed decisions and enable self-service analytics. We are seeking a Senior Staff Data Engineer to lead the technical strategy and execution of building foundational datasets and advancing the data platform capabilities that power decisions and experiences across the company. This role is ideal for a seasoned technical leader who is passionate about data architecture, mentorship, and engineering excellence. The Difference You Will Make You will own the technical vision and strategy for the Foundation Data team, building and evolving foundational datasets to support company-wide data needs. Your work will be instrumental in developing robust data architectures, enhancing self-service capabilities, and driving product adoption. You will collaborate with product and data engineering teams to build reliable, scalable, and cost-effective solutions. You will stay hands-on in the data engineering space, leading design reviews and driving the execution of complex data pipelines. You will mentor other data engineers and drive engineering best practices, including defining data standards, improving performance, and establishing a culture of quality and operational excellence. As a Senior Staff Data Engineer, you will play a pivotal role in setting the technical direction of foundational data at Airbnb, influencing decisions that will shape the future of data at Airbnb. A Typical Day • Design, build, and own foundational data pipelines and data models for foundational datasets (e.g., cloud cost, traffic, bot data, infra intelligence, etc.). • Lead the architecture and development of infrastructure solutions to enhance foundational data capabilities, while ensuring scalability and maintainability. • Partner with data scientists and product teams to define data models that support self-service analytics, model training, and product decisions. • Drive data quality initiatives, improve data accessibility, and establish monitoring systems for data pipelines. • Participate in and lead technical design reviews, set engineering best practices, and define data standards. • Mentor data engineers, fostering growth in technical skills and guiding the team on complex data engineering challenges. • Collaborate with cross-functional teams to align data infrastructure with business goals. • Help resolve production incidents in a timely manner to ensure data reliability and availability. • Participate in the on-call rotation to support foundational datasets and data infrastructure. Your Expertise We are looking for a Senior Staff Data Engineer with the following expertise: • 12+ years of experience designing and building data pipelines and data models, with a proven track record of working in large-scale, high-impact data systems. • Expertise in data modeling, including dimensional modeling and normalization, and experience in Airflow and SQL, and Spark (Python and Scala). Experience with DBT is a plus. • Expertise in optimizing query performance, cost, and data reliability, with deep experience in managing large-scale data lakes and warehousing solutions. • Experience in leading technical strategy and execution for data engineering teams, including mentoring and coaching senior engineers. • Strong communication skills and ability to work with cross-functional partners across engineering, product, data science, and finance teams. • Experience in designing data systems for self-service analytics, model training, and product decisions, particularly in cloud-native environments. • Familiarity with cloud-based data technologies, such as AWS, GCP, Snowflake, BigQuery, Databricks, and Presto. • Strong background in computer science or a related field, with a focus on distributed systems, data engineering, and software development best practices. 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 plan on living 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. The approved states where Airbnb, Inc. has a registered entity are: Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington.