Greenhouse ·
full-timeSenior Software Engineer Guest & Host
Airbnb · Remote, USA
Airbnb operates a global platform connecting hosts and travelers for unique stays and experiences. The Guest & Host Technology team manages the critical identity and privacy infrastructure that underpins these interactions. As a Senior Software Engineer, you will focus on building and scaling backend systems that govern user identity, relationship-scoped access, and privacy controls. Your daily responsibilities involve designing robust APIs, defining authorization logic, and executing large-scale migrations of legacy identity patterns. You will work within a microservices architecture, ensuring that data modeling and service design remain consistent and secure across the company's various product surfaces. This role requires partnering with cross-functional teams to ensure privacy primitives are correctly implemented and usable. The position is well-suited for an experienced engineer with a strong background in Java or Kotlin who excels at solving complex architectural problems, managing large-scale system migrations, and prioritizing correctness in sensitive backend environments. You should be comfortable navigating ambiguity and documenting technical trade-offs to support high-stakes infrastructure changes.
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. The Community You Will Join: Guest & Host Technology builds the end-to-end experience that connects people around the world. Our team owns the identity and privacy layer beneath that experience: the systems that determine who can see what about whom, in what context, and why. That includes migrating how the rest of the company references users (moving from raw, global user identifiers to relationship-scoped identity), and building the privacy controls behind features like trip sharing and profile visibility. Get this layer wrong and it either breaks trust or breaks the product; our job is to make sure it does neither. The Difference You Will Make: We're looking for a Senior Software Engineer to help build and scale the backend systems behind user identity and privacy. You'll be reasoning about relationship-scoped access (who's allowed to see this, given the specific context they're asking from), and building systems that other teams across the company depend on to do the same correctly. You'll work across true backend fundamentals: service architecture, data modeling, authorization logic, and migration tooling that needs to run safely at Airbnb's scale without breaking the dozens of teams who consume these systems. A Typical Day: Design and build backend services and APIs that enforce identity and privacy rules consistently across the company's product surfaces Contribute to large-scale migrations (e.g., moving service and client code off legacy identity patterns) — including the tooling that makes those migrations safe to run broadly, not just the one-off fixes Define and evolve authorization logic for context-scoped data access, and reason clearly about edge cases (e.g., who's allowed to see what, and why that answer differs by relationship or product surface) Partner with the teams building on top of your systems — messaging, trips, profile, and beyond — to make sure privacy primitives are usable and hard to misuse Participate in design and code reviews, and raise the bar for correctness on a part of the codebase where mistakes are costly Debug and resolve production issues with clear, structured root-cause analysis rather than surface-level fixes Your Expertise: 6+ years of professional backend software engineering experience, with strong fundamentals in service-oriented architecture, API design, and data modeling Proficiency in Java and/or Kotlin, and comfort working within a microservices environment (RPC frameworks, service IDLs, dependency injection) Experience designing systems with correctness and authorization as first-class concerns, not an afterthought A track record of shipping migrations or infrastructure changes that other teams depend on, with attention to backward compatibility and rollout safety Strong written communication. You can clearly document a problem, its root cause, and trade-offs between solutions before escalating or proposing a fix Comfort with ambiguity: you can take a complex, evolving privacy or identity requirement and turn it into a concrete technical design without needing every detail spelled out 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. Click here for the up-to-date list of excluded states. This list is continuously evolving, so please check back with us if the state you live in is on the exclusion list . If your position is employed by another Airbnb entity, your recruiter will inform you what states you are eligible to work from. Our Commitment To Inclusion & Belonging: Airbnb is committed to working with the broadest talent pool possible. We believe diverse ideas foster innovation and engagement, and allow us to attract creatively-led people, and to develop the best products, services and solutions. All qualified individuals are encouraged to apply. We strive to also provide a disability inclusive application and interview process. If you are a candidate with a disability and require reasonable accommodation in order to submit an application, please contact us at: reasonableaccommodations@airbnb.com . Please include your full name, the role you’re applying for and the accommodation necessary to assist you with the recruiting process. We ask that you only reach out to us if you are a candidate whose disability prevents you from being able to complete our online application. Equal Employment Opportunity : Airbnb values diversity & belonging and is proud to be an Equal Employment O
| Role | Senior Software Engineer Guest & Host |
|---|---|
| Company | Airbnb |
| Location | Remote, USA |
| Type | full-time |
| Compensation | Not disclosed |
| Posted | 2026-10-02 |
| Deadline | Rolling |
Typical process for this type of role
A general guide — the exact steps for this specific listing may vary; check the original posting for details.
- 1ApplicationSubmit your resume through the apply link.
- 2ScreeningRecruiter reviews your background against the role.
- 3AssessmentA technical test, assignment, or coding round, depending on the role.
- 4Interview(s)One or more rounds with the hiring team.
- 5OfferOffer letter with compensation and start date.
Before you apply
0/4About Airbnb
Airbnb is a global platform that facilitates travel and accommodation by connecting guests with hosts. Since its inception in 2007, the company has grown from its first three guests to hosting 1.5 billion arrivals. The platform operates through a network of 5 million hosts who provide lodging options to travelers worldwide. Airbnb maintains a global creative community and emphasizes a flexible work environment for its employees, allowing them to live and work in various locations where regulations permit.
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