Airbnb is looking for a Senior Staff Engineer and Technical Lead for the Payments Compliance organization. You will own the technical vision and architectural direction across the full Compliance engineering landscape — spanning Policy Enforcement, Identity, Screening, Auditing, and Compliance Experience. Your work will ensure these systems are cohesive, scalable, and aligned with broader company priorities in a complex global regulatory environment.

What You'll Do

Own the end-to-end system design vision for the Compliance organization, setting architectural direction for ~30 engineers across multiple teams.
Drive foundational architectural shifts, including moving from an account-centric to a customer-centric model.
Lead technical strategy for expanding KYC capabilities, supporting businesses, reimagining onboarding, and enabling third-party APIs.
Architect systems that adapt to the evolving digital identity landscape and shifting privacy regulations.
Ensure technical foundations are flexible enough to absorb unforeseen regulatory mandates with aggressive timelines.
Partner with technical leaders across multiple organizations to drive alignment on shared capabilities and reduce duplication.
Work closely with Product, Design, Policy, Legal, and Operations as part of a globally distributed team.
Lead and mentor engineers, raising the technical bar and developing the next generation of technical leaders.
Advocate for and drive systemic improvements to streamline development, reduce toil, and increase quality.

What We're Looking For

15+ years of technical experience.
10+ years of relevant industry experience in a fast-paced tech environment.
Prior knowledge of Regulatory Compliance standards (AML, KYC, sanctions screening).
Demonstrated experience designing and implementing compliance controls at scale.
Proven track record of setting technical direction and architectural strategy for a large engineering organization.
Experience designing systems that span multiple teams and domains, focusing on cohesion and long-term maintainability.
Excellent communication skills and ability to influence senior technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Strong problem solver with deep experience operating and leading on-call for production systems at scale.
Hands-on experience leading large project teams, making high-stakes design tradeoffs, and translating regulatory requirements into scalable architectures.
BS/MS/PhD in Computer Science, a related field, or equivalent work experience.
Proficiency in one or more back-end server languages (Java/Ruby/Go/C++/etc.).
Deep understanding of architectural patterns of high-scale web and data applications.
End-to-end ownership mentality that transcends team boundaries, with credibility and judgment to make decisions with financial and legal implications.

Team & Environment

You will lead the technical vision for an engineering organization of nearly 30 engineers across multiple teams.

Benefits & Compensation

Compensation range: $244,000—$305,000 USD
Bonus eligibility
Equity eligibility
Benefits eligibility
Employee Travel Credits

Work Mode

This is a global, remote role open to candidates in the USA.

Airbnb is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. All individuals seeking employment are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected characteristic.