Staff Software Engineer, Cloud Infrastructure

Airbnb; United States; On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Airbnb is seeking a Software Engineer for the Cloud Infrastructure team to build and operate the foundational cloud platform. You will focus on APIs, Kubernetes infrastructure, autoscaling, and automation to support a global user base.

You will work with engineers across teams to ensure reliability, scalability, and efficiency, leveraging AWS, GCP, and Azure services and modern containerization tooling.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of industry experience, with BS/MS and 2+ years post-PhD (preferred CS or related field)
• Experience developing and operating large-scale distributed projects with experienced engineers
• Expertise with AWS, GCP, and Azure IaaS offerings (e.g., EC2)
• Familiarity with Docker and Kubernetes; strong containerization background

Responsibilities

• Innovate and build cloud-native infrastructure using public cloud technologies.
• Deliver secure, efficient, mature, and highly available frameworks and platforms.
• Optimize and enhance systems to boost performance and operational efficiency.
• Improve system availability by applying best practices in distributed systems.
• Collaborate with infrastructure engineers to support Airbnb's technological growth.

Skills

Kubernetes

Cloud platforms

Distributed systems

Docker

Infrastructure as Code

Public cloud (AWS/GCP/Azure)

Education

BS/MS in CS or related field

PhD in CS or related field (preferred)

Tools

EC2

Docker

Kubernetes

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:

The Cloud Infrastructure team is responsible for delivering and operating the foundational platforms and cloud environment that power Airbnb. We provide reliable, secure, efficient, and ergonomic platform for all Airbnb services to run seamlessly in the cloud.

Airbnb is a member of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) end user community, and we work closely with the open source community (e.g. k8s, istio) and peer companies to tackle cloud native engineering challenges at scale. You will also have the chance to make an impact on the industry and open source communities.

The Difference You Will Make:

As a Software Engineer on our Cloud Infrastructure team, you will be at the forefront of developing the infrastructure platform that supports all teams across Airbnb. Your primary focus will be on operations and delivery of components such as our developer APIs and CLIs, Kubernetes infrastructure, autoscaling and capacity management tools, and cloud infrastructure automation. With a global user base, our team's core values emphasize reliability, scalability, efficiency, and high availability.

A Typical Day:

• Innovate and build cutting-edge cloud-native infrastructure using public cloud technologies.
• Deliver secure, efficient, mature, and highly available frameworks and platforms that simplify infrastructure complexity.
• Optimize and enhance existing systems and services to boost performance and operational efficiency.
• Improve system availability by implementing industry best practices in distributed systems.
• Collaborate with a diverse team of talented infrastructure engineers to establish a solid foundation for Airbnb's technological growth in the coming decade.

Your Expertise:

• Kubernetes. You live and breathe Kubernetes. You have operated it at scale. You can talk in detail about it and have a proven track record of operating it at scale.
• 10+ years of experience years of industry experience with a BS/Masters and 2+ years with a PhD, preferably in CS, or equivalent experience
• Proven track record in developing and operating large-scale technical projects in collaboration with experienced engineers.
• Expertise with public cloud providers (AWS, GCP, Azure) and their Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) offerings (e.g., EC2).
• Expertise with public cloud providers (AWS, GCP, Azure) and their Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) offerings (e.g., EC2).
• Familiarity with containerization and orchestration technologies, such as Docker and Kubernetes.
• A full-cycle developer mentality with strong ownership and experience in building and operating high-scale, distributed