Senior Staff Data Engineer - Data Stewardship

Airbnb Airbnb · Consumer · United States · Software Engineering

Senior Staff Data Engineer focused on Data Stewardship and Governance at Airbnb. The role involves defining the multi-year vision for Data Governance and Data Quality, acting as a primary consultant for executive leadership, and architecting data ecosystems that anticipate future real-time and AI-driven requirements. Key responsibilities include leading design of overarching data architectures, defining best practices for data quality, leading cross-functional task forces to navigate regulatory landscapes (GDPR, AI Act), and mentoring engineers. Requires 12+ years of experience, expertise in Java/Scala/Spark, SQL, and experience influencing strategy through data integrity.

What you'd actually do

  1. Set the North Star: you will define the multi-year vision for Data Governance and Data Quality that scales with our global business and evolving AI landscape.
  2. Organizational Influence: Act as a primary consultant for executive leadership on data governance, ensuring that compliance and stewardship are integrated into the data product lifecycle from day one.
  3. Architect Ecosystems: Lead the design of overarching data architectures that don't just solve today’s batch needs but anticipate future real-time and AI-driven requirements.
  4. Scale Best Practices: Rather than just "ensuring quality," you will define the best practices, tooling, and culture that enable data organizations to maintain high-quality data autonomously.
  5. Policy Stewardship: Lead cross-functional task forces (Infosec, Legal, Privacy) to navigate complex regulatory landscapes (like GDPR or AI Act) and translate them into engineering requirements.

Skills

Required

  • 12+ years of industry experience
  • leading large-scale data initiatives
  • designing and evolving complex data ecosystems
  • influencing product and business strategy
  • Deep expertise in the Java/Scala/Spark ecosystem
  • knowledge of S3 and Iceberg
  • Strong knowledge of relational databases
  • query authoring (SQL)
  • drive cultural shifts regarding data ownership and quality

What the JD emphasized

  • evolving AI landscape
  • AI-driven requirements
  • AI Act