Staff Software Engineer, Global Markets (Backend)

We are looking for a product-minded Staff Software Engineer (Backend) to lead the technical strategy and drive innovative initiatives for Airbnb’s international guest experiences. At Staff level, you will set a technical vision and drive execution of solutions that are highly available, secure, efficient, and designed to scale across many markets with the needs of the international business. You will work across product, engineering, data scientists, designer and cross-functional partners to solve these technical challenges and deliver high-quality products for Airbnb.

• Own technical vision and lead effort to architecture, prototype, build and launch solutions for international markets initiatives (market configuration, localization services, partner integrations, compliance-aware experiences, etc).
• Lead complex, cross-team execution from design through launch, including team roadmap, technical direction, migration plans, rollout strategy, and long-term operability.
• Drive engineering excellence through reliability, performance, security, and cost efficiency.
• Influence roadmaps and collaborate with stakeholders across regions, such as drives alignment, resolves tradeoffs, leads through ambiguity.
• Mentor engineers both within and outside of the team.

• Fluency in English is required. Japanese or Korean working proficiency is a plus .
• 9+ years of professional software engineering experience, including Tech Lead responsibilities (required).
• Proven track record leading end-to-end delivery of high-impact, user-facing products—from technical design and implementation through launch and post-launch operations.
• Demonstrated ability to set technical direction for a team or multi-team area (e.g., defining architecture, establishing engineering standards, and shaping a long-term technical roadmap).
• Strong product mindset: you connect technical decisions to customer outcomes and business impact, and you’re comfortable operating in ambiguity with an iterative, experiment-driven approach.
• Expertise designing and operating systems that are highly available, scalable, secure, and cost-efficient, with clear operational readiness.
• Strong experience working in cross-functional, global environments, driving alignment and results through influence across teams and time zones.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor and develop engineers, raise the quality bar through reviews and coaching, and establish and drive best practices.