Staff Data Scientist, Marketplace Optimization and Ranking

Airbnb is a global company that has transformed how people travel and connect through unique stays and experiences. The Staff Data Scientist will develop models and analytical frameworks to improve listing ranking and recommendations, while collaborating with cross-functional teams to enhance search and personalization features.

Responsibilities:

• Develop models and analytical frameworks that improve listing ranking and recommendation. This includes incorporating marketplace dynamics such as listing availability, supply quality, and long-term ecosystem health into ranking decisions
• Design experiments and evaluation frameworks to understand the impact of search and AI-driven product improvements. You will ensure that product decisions are grounded in rigorous measurement and causal inference
• Build scalable data products and modeling pipelines that power ranking features, query understanding, and personalization. Your work will help enable the next generation of AI-powered search experiences at Airbnb
• Partner closely with Relevance Engineering and Product to launch high-impact search improvements
• Set technical direction for modeling and experimentation in Search and Personalization
• Mentor other data scientists and raise the bar for building durable data products
• Connect marketplace thinking, modeling, and experimentation across teams to guide product strategy
• Actively collaborate with teams across product, engineering, and operations to integrate data science insights into initiatives aimed at enhancing supply acquisition, retention, and success
• Engage with stakeholders to understand their business objectives and provide data-driven solutions tailored to these goals
• Build machine learning models, develop inference frameworks, and build prototypes and other data products to scale your work
• Apply and investigate state-of-the-art innovations to uplevel Airbnb status-quo approaches to technical problems
• Regularly present work internally to engineering, product, and business strategy stakeholders to iterate and generate excitement on roadmap progress

Requirements:

• 9+ years of relevant industry experience and a Master's degree or PhD in a quantitative field
• Strong fluency in Python or R for hands-on IC work and SQL for advanced data analysis at scale
• Experience with causal inference and machine learning techniques, ideally in a multi-sided platform setting
• Proven ability to succeed in collaborative environments with cross-functional stakeholders and also in independent work environments
• Proven ability to communicate clearly and effectively to audiences of varying technical levels