Senior Staff Software Engineer, Payments

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 Job: Airbnb Payments team allows any two people in the world to frictionlessly exchange money with easy to use payments services It is a core strategy to fulfill Airbnbs belongs anywhere mission

We are building a world-class payments platform that moves billions of dollars, in 191 countries, with 75 currencies, through a complex ecosystem of payments partners

We build and maintain our own in-house global payments platform because no solution exists with the global reach needed As the platform grows well be adding new payment partners, global licenses, compliance and regulation controls, and building new payment experiences for our guests and hosts.

Airbnbs business grows rapidly year over year, and so does Airbnb Payments processing volume. Payments Compliance is an essential part of the Payments organization. Without it, Airbnb can be subject to fines and even forbidden from conducting business in certain markets.

As a Senior Staff Engineer and Technical Lead for the Payments Compliance organization, you would own the technical vision and architectural direction across the full Compliance engineering landscape — spanning Policy Enforcement, Identity, Screening, Auditing, and Compliance Experience

You will ensure our compliance systems are cohesive, scalable, and aligned with broader company priorities as we navigate an increasingly complex global regulatory environment.

The Role: We are looking for a seasoned technical leader who can operate at the intersection of deep systems expertise and organizational influence As a Senior Staff Engineer, you will serve as the connective tissue across Compliances multi-year strategic initiatives — defining how components fit together, identifying where capabilities can be shared rather than duplicated, and ensuring we leverage platform investments from partner teams

Your decisions will directly affect how Airbnb meets obligations such as Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Know Your Customer (KYC), and sanctions screening while minimizing operational cost and customer friction.

This role extends well beyond the Compliance organization itself You will partner directly with cross-organizational engineering teams, as well as cross-functional stakeholders across Product, Content, Legal, and Design

The technical choices you make carry direct financial and legal exposure — requiring the judgment, depth of expertise, and organizational credibil