Staff Software Engineer, Event Logging

Details

Airbnb was born in 2007 when two Hosts welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home, and has since grown to over 4 million Hosts who have welcomed more than 1 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 Event Logging team is responsible for Airbnb's logging infrastructure, ensuring every digital interaction is accurately captured, securely stored, effectively managed, and readily accessible. We establish logging tooling and standards, optimize ingestion and storage of event data, and enable seamless production and consumption of high-quality data—both in real-time online systems and offline analytical workflows.

Event Logging engineers collaborate closely with cross-functional partners across Product, Analytics, AI/ML, and more to empower teams to derive timely insights and build advanced products and services that enhance user experiences and drive business growth. Our team values innovation, continuous learning, and technical excellence. As part of the Event Logging team, you'll have opportunities to work on challenging problems at scale and grow your skills in data engineering and distributed systems.

The Difference You Will Make:

As a Staff Software Engineer on the Event Logging team, you will lead critical initiatives that shape how Airbnb captures, processes, and leverages event data at scale, including:

• Designing and implementing next-generation logging systems that process billions of events daily
• Driving architectural decisions that ensure data integrity, efficiency, and compliance across Airbnb's data platform.
• Building robust infrastructure that powers data-driven decision-making across the organization.
• Defining and executing the technical roadmap for Airbnb's logging infrastructure.
• Unlocking new capabilities through improved event logging for cross-functional teams.
• Driving adoption of logging best practices across engineering teams.

A Typical Day:

As a Staff Software Engineer on the Event Logging team, your day might include:

• Contributing to the development of long-term strategies and roadmaps, and influencing the technical direction of our logging infrastructure.
• Architecting scalable solutions for real-time and batch event processing.
• Driving technical discussions and decision-making across teams.
• Designing and implementing robust data governance systems ensuring proper event ownership and lineage.
• Optimizing event ingestion pipelines handling billions of events per day.
• Collaborating with cross-functional teams to gather requirements, assess logging needs, and design efficient solutions that align with business objectives.
• Identifying and implementing automation opportunities to improve logging efficiency.
• Mentoring and coaching team members, providing guidance and support to enhance their skills and performance.

Your Expertise:

We're looking for someone who brings:

• 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.

Preferred Qualifications:

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

Your Location:

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

How We'll Take Care of You:

Our job titles may span more than one career level. The actual base pay is dependent upon many factors, such as: training, transferable skills, work experience, business needs and market demands. The base pay range is subject to change and may be modified in the future. This role may also be eligible for bonus, equity, benefits, and Employee Travel Credits.