Senior Manager, Technical Program Management (Search & AI Foundations)

Details

Airbnb is seeking a technical, hands-on, and mission-driven Senior Manager of Technical Program Management for the Infrastructure team. The role will lead AI Platform initiatives spanning Search Relevance, Machine Learning Infrastructure (MLI), and Search Knowledge Infrastructure (SKI). The position partners with engineering, product, senior individual contributors, and engineering directors to drive data-driven decision-making, strategic planning, and execution across Airbnb.

The Search Relevance, MLI, and SKI teams support ranking, recommendations, model infrastructure, search intelligence, personalization, and the underlying model infrastructure used across and outside Airbnb's platform. Key areas include Search Ranking for Stays, Experiences, and Services; Home Page Recommendations; Search Bar AutoSuggest and Autocomplete; Marketing Technology; and ML infrastructure and platform capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage technical programs across Search Relevance, Machine Learning Infrastructure, and Search Knowledge Infrastructure.
• Shape and influence the technical direction of projects while maintaining high-quality standards and meeting stakeholder needs.
• Rapidly prototype and validate project ideas through iterative development cycles, adapting based on insights and data.
• Define and secure stakeholder alignment on clear, measurable success criteria for AI initiatives.
• Assess risks and opportunities, develop mitigation strategies, and remove roadblocks.
• Align teams, identify dependencies, resolve ambiguity, set expectations, and ensure successful execution.
• Maintain transparent communication with stakeholders regarding progress, developments, and challenges.
• Present outcomes and updates to senior leadership, articulating trade-offs, risks, and emerging opportunities.
• Partner with ML engineers, infrastructure engineers, product managers, senior ICs, and engineering directors across Airbnb.
• Manage and develop a team of Technical Program Managers while fostering an inclusive and sustainable culture.

Requirements

• 13+ years of experience in technical program management.
• At least 8 years of experience managing a team of Technical Program Managers.
• Experience with search relevance, natural language search, and recommendation systems.
• Experience applying GenAI or LLM technologies to search is a plus.
• Experience with ML models, LLMs, LRMs, feature development, model testing, and resource management for AI-powered product experiences.
• Familiarity with A/B testing, incremental delivery, and deployment.
• Ability to work through ambiguity, frame vague problems, identify paths forward, and drive initiatives to completion.
• Strong business judgment, analytical skills, ownership, data-driven analysis, and ability to influence results.
• Ability to adapt to teams with different operating cadences and learn new technologies quickly.
• Excellent written and oral communication and people skills.

Location

This position is US Remote Eligible. The role may include occasional work at an Airbnb office or attendance at offsites, as agreed with the manager. Employees must live in a state where Airbnb, Inc. has a registered entity.

Compensation

The base pay range is $232,000–$282,000 USD. The role may also be eligible for bonus, equity, benefits, and Employee Travel Credits.