Staff Technical Program Manager, Reliability & Observability

Airbnb

8d•Remote

About The Position

Airbnb was born in 2007 when two hosts welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home, and has since grown to over 5 million hosts who have welcomed over 2 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: Airbnb’s mission is to create a world where people can Belong Anywhere. As we grow to achieve that mission, we’re looking to add a technical, hands-on, and mission-driven Technical Program Manager (TPM) for the Infrastructure team. This person will partner with our engineering & product teams to build/enhance data-driven decision making across multiple areas in Airbnb. They will partner closely with senior ICs and engineering directors across Airbnb on processes, strategy and execution. To help us achieve our mission, we are seeking a technical, hands-on, and mission-driven Staff Technical Program Manager (TPM) to lead Reliability & Observability initiatives. In this role, you will collaborate closely with Machine Learning (ML) engineers, infrastructure engineers, and product managers across Airbnb to develop holistic solutions that ensure the Airbnb platform is robust, highly available, and transparent in its operations. The Reliability & Observability team enables safe, resilient, and transparent operation of critical systems powering Airbnb. This team creates and maintains the frameworks and platforms for proactive monitoring, alerting, logging, tracing, and incident management, helping teams across Airbnb maintain service health and quickly remediate issues. We are looking for a candidate with a robust technical background who deeply understands the problem space, drives requirements, and leverages their AI/ML expertise to resolve strategic challenges that align with Airbnb’s larger goals. The Difference You Will Make: You will play a crucial role in tackling projects that power search and recommendations across the entire Airbnb platform—directly influencing how guests and hosts connect in meaningful ways. Success in this role requires a strong sense of ownership, coupled with the ability to think critically and strategically while managing relationships with cross-functional stakeholders. A Typical Day: Shape and influence the technical direction of projects, ensuring we meet stakeholder needs while maintaining high-quality standards. Rapidly prototype and validate project ideas through iterative development cycles, adapting as necessary based on insights and data. Balance broad, outcome-driven thinking with attention to critical details, exercising sound judgment to prioritize where deep focus is necessary to ensure successful execution. Define and secure stakeholder alignment on clear, measurable success criteria to accelerate AI initiatives. Regularly assess risks and opportunities, and devise proactive mitigation strategies to maintain momentum and project success. Maintain transparent and effective communication channels to keep stakeholders informed of progress, developments, and challenges. Expertly present outcomes and updates to senior leadership, clearly and comprehensively articulating trade-offs, risks, and emerging opportunities.

Requirements

At least 10 years of work experience, with at least 8 years as a TPM or relevant experience
Demonstrated ability to work through ambiguity to detailed solutions. You can take a vague problem, crisply frame the challenge, identify a path forward, and drive an initiative over the finish-line.
Self-motivated, proactive and proven ability to adapt well and work with teams having different operating cadences.
Sound business judgment, a proven ability to influence others, strong analytical skills, and a track record of taking ownership, leading data driven analyses, and influencing results
Experience with ML models, LLMs, LRMs, feature development, model testing and resource management to support the development of AI-powered product experiences.
Familiar with A/B testing, incremental delivery and deployment.
Ability to ramp up quickly and learn new technologies with minimal lag time.
Excellent written and oral business communication and people skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders.

Responsibilities

Shape and influence the technical direction of projects, ensuring we meet stakeholder needs while maintaining high-quality standards.
Rapidly prototype and validate project ideas through iterative development cycles, adapting as necessary based on insights and data.
Balance broad, outcome-driven thinking with attention to critical details, exercising sound judgment to prioritize where deep focus is necessary to ensure successful execution.
Define and secure stakeholder alignment on clear, measurable success criteria to accelerate AI initiatives.
Regularly assess risks and opportunities, and devise proactive mitigation strategies to maintain momentum and project success.
Maintain transparent and effective communication channels to keep stakeholders informed of progress, developments, and challenges.
Expertly present outcomes and updates to senior leadership, clearly and comprehensively articulating trade-offs, risks, and emerging opportunities.