Senior Staff Tech Lead, Core ML Data Science

The mission of the Core Data Science team is to ensure that we are leveraging state of the art science at Airbnb for the highest possible impact on the business and the community. We do that by building reusable models and features that empower every DS team in the company; and by tackling the most technically challenging, high impact data science problems the company faces.

As a Tech Lead for the team's machine learning work you will be responsible for driving specific projects, setting technical strategy for the team's ML work and empowering more junior members of the team. The role requires partnering with engineers, product managers and other data scientists across the org, and a successful candidate will be able to influence these technical and non-technical partners in order to achieve the best outcome for Airbnb and its customers.

A key to success in this role will be to proactively search out opportunities for innovation across data science. Airbnb has a rich set of problems where technical innovation can have high returns. We've identified many of those, but we expect the right candidates to continue this process.

Some of the challenges you will face include:

• Developing integrated trust and risk signals (e.g. embeddings, clustering) that be be leveraged across multiple defenses
• Finding opportunities for step changes in model architecture -- e.g. leveraging Graph Neural Networks for applications with Trust, Payments and CS
• Development of NLP-derived signals to use across the company
• Utilizing Deep Learning techniques for advanced feature engineering and model building, e.g., how to model for user behavior sequences, or how can we detect anomalies effectively
• Devising optimization models to make optimal business decisions while minimizing risk
• Innovating modeling frameworks in this adversarial setup, e.g., how can models collaboratively surface more risks, or how can models adapt to emerging patterns quickly.

Here are example traits we value:

• Advanced degree in a quantitative field, e.g. Computer Science, Operations Research, Mathematics
• 9+ years industry experience
• Experience taking research prototypes to production.
• Proven ability to design analytical solutions to complex business problems and to partner cross-functional peers to tailor those solutions for the greatest possible impact.
• Deep understanding of ML domains (e.g. NLP, computer vision, recommendation, anomaly detection, graph learning), algorithms (eg. deep learning, gradient boosted trees, optimization), and best practices, (e.g. skew minimization, A/B testing, feature engineering, model selection)
• Strong programming (Python / Scala / Java / C++ or equivalent) and data engineering skills
• Utilize OSS ML technologies such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, Spark, Airflow
• Versatility to communicate clearly with both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Publications or presentations in recognized Machine Learning and Data Mining journals/conferences 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.