Airbnb Sr Staff Data Scientist – Marketplace Algorithms 

United States 

891622333

The Community You Will Join:

• You will join a cross-functional team of data scientists, analysts, engineers, product managers, and designers who build pricing and data products for Airbnb hosts. You will guide the technical development of next-gen algorithms to improve the Airbnb marketplace for guests and hosts.

The Difference You Will Make:

• You will lead the technical vision for next-generation host guidance, one of Airbnb’s most important growth and monetization levers. You will develop pricing algorithms to help millions of new and existing hosts to find prices that work for them. You will partner with product, engineering, and design leaders to bring these algorithms to life through product launches and continuous algorithm innovation. You will co-own our overall host guidance roadmap and deliver science-powered experiences to make it easy to succeed as an Airbnb host.

A Typical Day:

• Provide technical leadership for a mixed team of applied scientists, data scientists, and economists, guiding them through modeling and system design.
• Develop and refine Airbnb's pricing guidance strategy and roadmaps in collaboration with cross-functional teams.
• Design and evaluate pricing algorithms using state-of-the-art casual machine learning and/or reinforcement learning techniques.
• Build world-class, next-generation pricing and host guidance products through hands-on coaching and model development.
• Partner with product, engineering, design, and data science teams to align on goals and deliverables. Work hand-in-hand with marketplace data science and algorithms engineering teams to develop, implement, and iterate quickly.
• Uplevel the craft and velocity of everyone who works with you!

Your Expertise:

• Advanced degree (PhD or Masters) in Computer Science, Data Science, Econometrics, Statistics, or a related field.
• 12+ years of relevant industry experience (9+ with a PhD), with 2+ years of domain experience in pricing or promotions.
• 4+ years of experience in a technical leadership role with applied scientists and economists (as a manager or technical lead).
• Hands-on ‘builder’ experience in causal machine learning problems. Expert understanding of causal machine learning and reinforcement learning algorithms is a plus.
• Proven ability to communicate effectively with audiences of varying technical knowledge and seniority.
• Strategic thinker with experience laying out and delivering on 1+ year technical / product vision.
• Prior experience in multi-sided marketplaces is preferred.