Senior Data Scientist, Trust - Algorithms

Summary

Join Airbnb's Trust team as a Data Scientist and build machine learning models to detect high-risk activities, optimize manual review effectiveness, and develop measurement strategies for new product features. Collaborate with cross-functional teams, present work to stakeholders, and publish findings externally. You will utilize deep learning techniques for advanced feature engineering and model building. This role requires an advanced degree in a quantitative field and 4+ years of relevant experience. The position is US-remote eligible, with occasional office work or offsites. Airbnb offers competitive compensation, including bonus, equity, benefits, and employee travel credits.

Requirements

• Advanced degree in a quantitative field
• 4+ years of relevant industry and/or academic experience developing scientific frameworks, building machine learning models, and implementing advanced experimentation techniques (e.g. ML scientist, tech lead, junior faculty)
• Strong fluency in Python for hands-on IC work and advanced data analysis in SQL at scale
• Deep understanding of Machine Learning best practices (eg. training/serving skew minimization, feature engineering, feature/model selection), algorithms (eg. gradient boosted trees, neural networks/deep learning, optimization) and domains (eg. natural language processing, computer vision, personalization and recommendation, anomaly detection)
• Strong team player who thrives on collaboration and enjoys solving problems alongside others. You value diverse perspectives, communicate proactively, and believe the best solutions are built together—not in isolation
• Comfortable collaborating with software engineers to understand complex systems and abstracted logs, and working closely with other cross functional partners such as product, policy, and analytics
• Proven ability to create and drive technical and impactful roadmaps for the business, and lead seamless execution of it while managing ambiguity and adapting as necessary
• Proven ability to communicate clearly and effectively to cross functional partners of varying technical levels

Responsibilities

• Build machine learning models to detect high risk activities, develop data mastery to uncover learnings, and formulate structured frameworks to classify and interpret our users’ behavior
• Work cross functionally with operations and product teams to define and collect labels for model training, optimize effectiveness of manual review, and build self-satisfiable verifications that scale
• Develop measurement strategies to test new product features that deter and mitigate risk, while adhering to ethical guidelines
• Apply and experiment with state-of-the-art innovations to uplevel Airbnb status-quo approaches to technical problems
• Regularly present work internally to technical, engineering and product stakeholders to iterate and generate excitement on roadmap progress
• Publish externally and engage with the scientific community to advance Airbnb’s standing
• Devise optimization models to make optimal business decisions while minimizing risk
• Utilize Deep Learning techniques for advanced feature engineering and model building, e.g., how to model for user behaviors sequences, or how can we detect anomalies effectively

Preferred Qualifications

• PhD is a plus
• Experience in NLP and sequence modeling is a plus
• Experience working within the trust and/or fraud domain is a plus
• Industry experience building end-to-end Machine Learning systems and/or building and productionizing Machine Learning models is a plus

Benefits

• Bonus
• Equity
• Benefits
• Employee Travel Credits