Senior Staff Data Scientist

Role Description

The Community You Will Join:

• Guest Experience is responsible for Search and Discovery, Merchandising, and end-to-end online software experience worldwide.
• We are looking for a talented Data Scientist to join the Guest Data Science team.
• This tech lead will use AI and causal inference to understand user behavior in our app, detect underlying intent, and build data products for a personalized experience.
• We build products that help guests find the inventory most relevant to them in our marketplace.

The Difference You Will Make:

• As a Senior Staff Data Scientist, you will lead innovation efforts to build methodologies to identify and evaluate guest preferences.
• You will shape our data strategy to drive guest conversion and engagement across our Homes, Experiences, and Services business verticals.
• This role emphasizes technical excellence and driving business impact with cutting-edge science.
• Your role will involve close collaboration with Product to identify in-product optimizations and shape UX design architecture.
• You will maintain a dialogue with guests to understand their preferences and reflect that understanding back to them.

A Typical Day:

• Learn: Develop deep understanding of how guests navigate and re-engage with our app via analysis and research.
• Partner: Drive technical frameworks and science leadership to explore innovative paradigms for detecting revealed preferences.
• Build: Write code for prototypes to detect and quantify taxonomy of guest preferences.
• Evaluate: Assess assumptions and efficacy of derived guest preferences via measurement and validation.
• Influence: Present findings and recommendations to leadership audiences to inform strategy and deliverables.

Qualifications

• Causal inference expertise with marketplace experience.
• Preferred domain experience in search, UX discovery, personalized evidence systems.
• Advanced degree in Computer Science, Statistics, Econometrics, or related field.
• 9+ years of industry experience with a PhD (or 12+ years with a Masters).
• Strong communication skills with XFN partners in product, engineering, and design.
• Expert in at least one programming language for data analysis (Python or R) with familiarity in SQL.
• Proven ability to succeed in both collaborative and independent work environments.
• Demonstrated willingness and track record of engagement with the technical community.

Requirements

• Comfort with developing proof-of-concept prototypes.
• Passionate about AI and possessing a learner’s mindset towards LLMs and dynamic systems.

Your Location

• This position is US - Remote Eligible.
• The role may include occasional work at an Airbnb office or attendance at offsites.
• You must live in a state where Airbnb, Inc. has a registered entity.

Benefits

• Base pay range: $224,000 — $280,000 USD.
• Role may be eligible for bonus, equity, benefits, and Employee Travel Credits.