Senior Staff Software Engineer, Community Support Engineering

airbnb, Inc.; United States; Remote; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a forward-thinking company as a Senior Staff Software Engineer, where you will lead the charge in transforming customer support through intelligent, AI-augmented systems. This role offers the opportunity to design and implement scalable backend systems, influence architectural decisions, and mentor the next generation of engineers. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to build robust platforms that enhance user experiences and drive innovation. If you are passionate about engineering excellence and eager to make a significant impact, this is the perfect opportunity for you.

Benefits

Bonus

Equity

Employee Travel Credits

Comprehensive Benefits

Qualifications

• 12+ years of software engineering experience with deep expertise in backend systems.
• 5+ years as a Tech Lead or Architect on high-impact projects.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement key backend systems that are reliable and scalable.
• Drive architectural reviews and contribute to long-term technical strategy.

Skills

Backend Systems

Technical Leadership

Java

Cloud Infrastructure

API Design Patterns

Distributed Systems

Mentorship

Communication Skills

Tools

AWS

Salesforce

Job description

Senior Staff Software Engineer, Community Support Engineering

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:

At Airbnb, we’re reimagining how support is delivered at a global scale. The Community Support Engineering (CSE) team is leading a multi-year transformation—building intelligent, AI-augmented systems that provide timely, personalized, and always-on support experiences for our global community.

The CS Foundations Engineering (CSFE) team powers this mission by delivering robust platforms, reusable systems, and developer-facing infrastructure. Our tools help agents deliver exceptional service, enable faster product iteration, and support Airbnb’s mission to create a world where anyone can belong anywhere—with help that’s just a moment away.

The Difference You Will Make:

• We're seeking a Senior Staff Engineer who thrives at the intersection of technical depth, architectural thinking, and mentorship. In this role, you’ll lead complex projects, guide long-term technical strategy, and raise the bar for engineering quality across the Community Support organization.
• You’ll collaborate with cross-functional leaders, build resilient systems that operate globally at scale, and help evolve the foundational building blocks behind AI-powered customer support.

While this role won’t own every project below, they highlight the breadth and depth of work across our group, and where your leadership may be needed:

• Building a unified, platform-native case management system (AirCase), abstracted via Viaduct APIs and replacing legacy CRM systems.
• Designing scalable AI workflow orchestration to power agent co-pilot tools and intelligent response automation.
• Modernizing our Delivery Management Console (DMC) to include real-time performance insights, outlier detection, and agent coaching tools.
• Establishing shared data foundations to enable AI/ML solutions, feedback loops, and personalization across the support journey.
• Delivering next generating matching capabilities (Routing) so incoming customer contacts are matched to the best agents using AI and Intelligence to deliver personalized and differentiated support experiences.

A Typical Day:

• Design and implement significant portions of key backend systems and services that are reliable, performant, and scalable.
• Drive architectural reviews and contribute to design decisions that influence long-term direction.
• Collaborate with other senior technical leaders to define and evolve shared frameworks and technical strategy.
• Uplevel engineering quality through design/code reviews, mentorship, and hands-on implementation.
• Lead conversations that align technical efforts with business outcomes and product priorities.
• Establish and evangelize best practices in reliability, observability, testing, and development velocity.
• Help synthesize insights from incidents and system data into architectural improvements.
• Represent Community Support Engineering in technical forums across Airbnb and shape best practices.

Your Expertise:

• 12+ years of software engineering experience, including deep expertise in backend or platform systems.
• 5+ years as a Tech Lead or Architect on high-impact, cross-functional projects.
• Proven experience building large-scale, distributed systems—especially ones that handle real-time data or internal tooling workflows.
• Strong coding background in Java and familiarity with scalable service and API design patterns.
• Deep understanding of cloud infrastructure (AWS preferred) and CI/CD practices.
• Experience with CRM platforms (e.g. Salesforce) and customer support domains is a plus.
• Passion for mentoring, sharing knowledge, and growing others.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to influence across orgs.

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.