Staff Data Scientist - Algorithms, Trust

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 Account Integrity team is committed to maintaining the trustworthiness of Airbnb. As a data scientist working on Account Integrity, you will collaborate with a talented team of engineers, product managers, designers, and operation agents to develop scalable and robust systems that detect and prevent unauthorized or fraudulent account activities. Our products range from user verification frameworks to ML-driven initiatives for fraud detection, ensuring the authenticity of our users and preserving the integrity of Airbnb's platform

The Difference You Will Make:

Our data science team is focused on enabling Airbnb’s mission by providing statistical insights and innovative data products that will drive improvements to our platform and empower our users around the world. As a Data Scientist working on the Account Integrity team, you will have the opportunity to collaborate with a strong team of engineers, product managers, designers and operational partners as you drive ideation, scoping, iteration, and execution of data-driven modeling/ML solutions. The challenges you will tackle range across a wide-range of organizational opportunities, from amplifying payment experiences, driving improved business outcomes, and bolstering fraud detection capabilities.

A Typical Day: 

• Building machine learning models to detect high risk activities, develop data mastery to uncover learnings, and formulate structured frameworks to classify and interpret our users’ behavior
• Working cross functionally with operations and product teams to define and collect labels for model training, optimize effectiveness of manual review, and build self-satisfiable verifications that scale.
• Developing measurement strategies to test new product features that deter and mitigate risk, while adhering to ethical guidelines
• Apply and experiment with state-of-the-art innovations to uplevel Airbnb status-quo approaches to technical problems
• Regularly present work internally at monthly meetings to technical, engineering and product stakeholders to iterate and generate excitement on roadmap progress
• Publish externally and engage with the scientific community to advance Airbnb’s standing
• Devising optimization models to make optimal business decisions while minimizing risk
• Utilizing Deep Learning techniques for advanced feature engineering and model building, e.g., how to model for user behaviors sequences, or how can we detect anomalies effectively

Your Expertise:

• Advanced degree in a quantitative field. PhD is a plus.
• 9+ years of relevant industry and/or academic experience developing scientific frameworks, building machine learning models, and implementing advanced experimentation techniques (e.g. ML scientist, tech lead, junior faculty) 
• Strong fluency in Python or R for hands-on IC work and advanced data analysis in SQL at scale
• Deep understanding of modern machine learning techniques and their mathematical underpinning, such as classification, clustering, optimization, deep neural network and natural language processing
• Comfortable collaborating with software engineers to understand complex systems and abstracted logs
• Proven ability to create and drive technical and impactful roadmaps for the business, and lead seamless execution of it.
• Proven ability to communicate clearly and effectively to cross functional partners of varying technical levels.
• Prior experience working in Fraud, Trust & Safety or a related area is a plus.
• Experience with advanced experimentation techniques is a plus.
• Experience productionizing real-time machine learning models is a plus.

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.

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.