Software Engineer, Airbnb - New Grad

Airbnb Airbnb · Consumer · San Francisco, CA +1 · Software Engineering

Software Engineer (New Grad) role at Airbnb, focusing on building and refining products and systems. The role involves contributing to AI-powered features, applying foundational ML knowledge, and working with modern AI tools. It emphasizes collaboration, best practices, and continuous learning, with opportunities to work on areas like recommendation systems and AI safety.

What you'd actually do

  1. As a Software Engineer (New Grad) at Airbnb, you’ll play a vital role in building, supporting, and refining the products and systems that make Airbnb’s mission possible.
  2. Your work will directly contribute to high-quality, reliable experiences for our global community—whether you’re fixing bugs, launching well-defined features, or enhancing existing components.
  3. You'll also have the opportunity to contribute to AI-powered features, applying foundational knowledge of machine learning concepts and modern AI tools to build smarter, more personalized experiences for our hosts and guests.
  4. By clearly communicating challenges and collaborating with teammates across functions, you’ll help drive projects forward with transparency and trust.
  5. You’ll foster a sense of belonging by actively seeking feedback, sharing your own learnings, and supporting the onboarding of new team members.

Skills

Required

  • Strong foundation in Computer Science fundamentals — data structures, algorithms, design patterns, and systems thinking
  • Proficiency in one or more of: Java, Scala, Ruby, Ruby on Rails, C++, SQL, HTML/CSS, JavaScript, Objective-C, Swift (iOS), or Kotlin (Android)
  • Foundational awareness of AI/ML concepts — such as supervised learning, model evaluation, or working with APIs backed by large language models (LLMs) — gained through coursework, personal projects, or internships
  • An understanding of responsible AI principles — including fairness, privacy, and safety — and a curiosity about how these apply to real-world product development

Nice to have

  • Familiarity with Python and common AI/ML libraries (e.g., NumPy, scikit-learn, or PyTorch) is a plus
  • experience integrating cloud-based AI services or LLM APIs
  • leadership experience, community involvement, or teaching/mentoring

What the JD emphasized

  • AI-powered features
  • foundational knowledge of machine learning concepts
  • modern AI tools
  • AI/ML developments
  • recommendation systems
  • natural language understanding
  • AI safety practices
  • responsible AI principles