Staff Software Engineer

Summary

Join Airbnb's Event Logging team as a Staff Software Engineer and lead critical initiatives shaping how Airbnb captures, processes, and leverages event data at scale. You will design and implement next-generation logging systems, drive architectural decisions ensuring data integrity, and build robust infrastructure powering data-driven decision-making. This role involves defining and executing the technical roadmap for Airbnb's logging infrastructure, unlocking new capabilities for cross-functional teams, and driving adoption of best practices. A typical day includes contributing to long-term strategies, architecting scalable solutions, driving technical discussions, designing data governance systems, optimizing event ingestion pipelines, collaborating with cross-functional teams, and mentoring team members. The position offers a competitive salary and potential for bonus, equity, benefits, and Employee Travel Credits. This is a US-remote eligible position.

Requirements

• 9+ years of experience with a BS/Masters or 6+ years with a PhD
• Deep expertise in backend programming languages (Java, Kotlin, Scala, or Python)
• Proven experience with real-time event processing systems, particularly with large-scale distributed data processing frameworks like Spark or Flink and messaging frameworks like Kafka
• Hands-on experience with modern ETL frameworks like Airflow
• Understanding of data security, privacy principles, and regulatory compliance (GDPR, CCPA)
• Knowledge of observability and monitoring best practices
• Track record of translating complex business requirements into scalable technical solutions
• Excellent communication skills with ability to influence both technical and business stakeholders
• Experience building trusted partnerships across diverse teams
• Strong mentorship and technical leadership capabilities

Responsibilities

• Design and implement next-generation logging systems that process billions of events daily
• Drive architectural decisions that ensure data integrity, efficiency, and compliance across Airbnb's data platform
• Build robust infrastructure that powers data-driven decision-making across the organization
• Define and execute the technical roadmap for Airbnb's logging infrastructure
• Unlock new capabilities through improved event logging for cross-functional teams
• Drive adoption of logging best practices across engineering teams
• Contribute to the development of long-term strategies and roadmaps, and influence the technical direction of our logging infrastructure
• Architect scalable solutions for real-time and batch event processing
• Drive technical discussions and decision-making across teams
• Design and implement robust data governance systems ensuring proper event ownership and lineage
• Optimize event ingestion pipelines handling billions of events per day
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to gather requirements, assess logging needs, and design efficient solutions that align with business objectives
• Identify and implement automation opportunities to improve logging efficiency
• Mentor and coach team members, providing guidance and support to enhance their skills and performance

Preferred Qualifications

• Background in data governance and schema management
• Experience with high-throughput data pipelines

Benefits

• Bonus
• Equity
• Benefits
• Employee Travel Credits