Senior Data Engineer, People Analytics

Details

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.

Community

People Analytics & Research is a strong team of Data Scientists, Researchers, and Analysts. Our work is highly sought-after, and we prioritize work that impacts employees and the business. If you have a background in Data Engineering and are excited to help build Airbnb’s community, we want to hear from you.

Role overview

The People Analytics & Research team is looking for an experienced Data Engineer to support our growing portfolio of data initiatives — from building data pipelines to delivering data foundations and analytical products that power EX's growing suite of AI-driven tools. Your responsibility spans data infrastructure, analytics engineering, and data product development. The role is highly cross-functional, and you will work with Talent Leaders, Recruiting, Legal, Diversity and Belonging, and other core people-oriented teams, as well as contribute to the AI-driven tools that make people data more accessible across the organization.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with team members and stakeholders to understand data- and people-related business problems and translate them into scalable data solutions
• Build data pipelines and tables from HR systems such as Workday, Greenhouse, and other data sources
• Support Data Science team members in leveraging data for reporting, dashboard development, and other client-facing use-cases
• Build, update, and maintain a production-grade data foundation that supports AI initiatives — including pipelines that feed LLM-powered tools, evaluation and feedback datasets, and the access controls and data models required to responsibly scale AI products from prototype to production
• Design and deliver data products, including dashboards and reporting tools (e.g., Streamlit visualization apps), that surface actionable insights for non-technical stakeholders
• Write and optimize queries across both distributed query engine (Trino/Presto) and private relational database (Postgres)
• Align on priorities and work from a roadmap, ensuring focus on the highest-priority projects
• Assess data readiness for AI use cases, working with EX teams, Legal, and BizTech to ensure sensitive employee data is handled with appropriate governance, permissioning, and access controls
• Support the transition of AI prototypes to production by building the underlying infrastructure — automated pipelines, security controls, and stable data models — that prototypes require to scale
• Exercise adaptability and good judgment to support organizational agility; be a constant learner, active listener, and teacher to advance data engineering, people analytics, and Airbnb

Requirements / Your Expertise

• 5+ years of industry experience as a Data Engineer or a closely related field
• Highly proficient in SQL across both OLAP and OLTP environments, including Trino/Presto/Hive and Postgres syntax
• Strong command of the Ubuntu environment and ability to navigate, manage, and edit files on AWS instances through SSH
• Experience working with relational databases and ability to assume an administrative role in managing the database
• Fluent in Python; able to interact with data sources (web APIs, SFTP, S3 buckets, Airtable) and efficiently process intermediate data
• Experience with scalable data pipelines leveraging Airflow or similar orchestration frameworks
• Proficiency in database fundamentals: primary keys, indexes, nullable fields, data types, partitioning, and designing data models for storage and retrieval
• Prior work with sensitive data: sensitivity classification, access controls, and audit logging; familiarity with governance requirements for employee/sensitive data
• Experience building data products, dashboards, or reporting tools using lightweight frontend frameworks such as Streamlit
• Ability to analyze large datasets to identify gaps and inconsistencies, interpret complex queries, and communicate findings to non-technical audiences
• Experience building data layers that support LLM-based tooling or agentic AI frameworks, including data quality and latency requirements for model consumption, AI evaluation practices, and feedback loop / evaluation dataset management
• Strong cross-functional collaboration skills with both technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Solid understanding of data structures & algorithms for medium-complexity problem solving
• Proficiency using Git for version control and mentoring peers on codebase management
• Familiarity with system design principles as applied to data platforms or AI-integrated systems

Location

This position is US - Remote Eligible. The role may include occasional work at an Airbnb office or attendance at offsites, as agreed with your manager. You must live in a state where Airbnb, Inc. has a registered entity (some states are excluded).

Pay Range

$179,000—$210,000 USD (base pay range; actual base pay depends on factors such as training, transferable skills, work experience, business needs and market demands). This role may also be eligible for bonus, equity, benefits, and Employee Travel Credits.

Our commitment to inclusion & accessibility

Airbnb is committed to working with the broadest talent pool possible. Diverse ideas foster innovation and engagement. All qualified individuals are encouraged to apply. If you are a candidate with a disability and require reasonable accommodation to submit an application, contact [email protected] with your full name, the role you’re applying for, and the accommodation necessary.

How We'll Take Care of You

The job title may span more than one career level. The base pay range is subject to change and may be modified in the future. The role may be eligible for bonus, equity, benefits, and Employee Travel Credits.