Airbnb Senior Data Scientist – Payments Recruitment 2026: Apply Online

About the Role: Senior Data Scientist – Payments (Inference)

Airbnb is seeking a highly skilled and motivated Senior Data Scientist to join our dynamic Payments Data Science organization. This is a critical role situated at the intersection of Trust and Payments, responsible for powering the systems that ensure secure and efficient money movement across Airbnb’s global marketplace. You will play a key part in optimizing payment experiences for both guests and hosts, mitigating fraud and risk, and ensuring regulatory compliance.

Our team collaborates closely with Payments product and engineering leadership, Finance, and Trust departments. The insights and models developed by our Data Scientists directly influence strategic decisions made by senior executives, requiring a rigorous, evidence-based approach. We provide reliable measurement frameworks, build state-of-the-art data products and models, and offer actionable business guidance to support Airbnb’s mission.

The Impact You’ll Make

As a Senior Data Scientist, you will lead quantitative measurement efforts and apply novel scientific approaches to drive decision-making across our platform’s payment experience. Your work will have a significant focus on payments fraud mitigation and loss optimization, contributing directly to making our platform safer for the entire Airbnb community. You will be expected to generate deep root cause investigations, measure long-term impacts, and build/evaluate machine learning and agentic models to optimize outcomes for guests, hosts, and the business.

Key Responsibilities

• Inference: Develop and apply advanced causal inference methods, including experimental, econometric regression, and quasi-experimental techniques, to accurately measure the impact of various platform and product initiatives.
• AI/ML Development: Build robust methods for evaluating the efficiency and performance of ML/AI models. Identify use cases for and develop predictive models to classify, segment, and interpret user behavior. Support the evaluation and optimization of agentic and LLM-based systems.
• Optimization Strategies: Develop methodologies to explore and simulate the impact of new interventions. Create data products designed to optimize product and operational strategies.
• Communication and Collaboration: Deliver comprehensive research reports and compelling data visualizations. Collaborate effectively with cross-functional stakeholders, present findings, identify opportunities, and drive impact.
• Strategic Thinking: Think strategically about opportunities to improve and scale our brand measurement and customer insights capabilities.

What We’re Looking For

• Experience: 5+ years of industry experience in a quantitative analysis role with a Master’s degree in a quantitative field (e.g., math, economics, statistics), OR 3+ years of experience with a PhD degree.
• Technical Expertise: Strong knowledge of causal inference, experimentation, applied statistical modeling, and end-to-end machine learning development.
• Programming Skills: Proficiency in statistical programming languages such as Python or R, and strong database querying skills using SQL.
• Ownership and Accountability: Demonstrated track record of owning a business or technical domain end-to-end, including setting your own roadmap, serving as the accountable expert, and driving problems to resolution.
• Communication Skills: Proven ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly and effectively to audiences with varying levels of technical understanding.
• Autonomy: Ability to work independently, set your own strategic roadmap, and drive alignment across cross-functional teams.
• Domain Knowledge (Plus): Expertise in Payments Fraud/Risk is a strong plus.
• LLM/Agentic Systems (Plus): Familiarity with evaluating agentic or LLM-based systems (e.g., decision-quality measurement, human-in-the-loop calibration) is advantageous.

Location and Work Environment

This position is eligible for remote work within the United States. Candidates must reside in a state where Airbnb, Inc. has a registered entity. Occasional work at an Airbnb office or attendance at offsites may be required, as agreed upon with your manager. Please refer to the careers page for an up-to-date list of excluded states.

Our Commitment to Inclusion

Airbnb is deeply committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. We believe that diverse perspectives drive innovation and lead to better products and services. All qualified individuals are encouraged to apply. We are dedicated to providing a disability-inclusive application and interview process. If you require reasonable accommodation, please contact reasonableaccommodations@airbnb.com.

Compensation and Benefits

The compensation for this role is competitive and will be determined based on factors such as training, transferable skills, work experience, business needs, and market demands. This position may also be eligible for bonus, equity, comprehensive benefits, and Employee Travel Credits.

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. Airbnb is committed to working with the broadest talent pool possible, believing that diverse ideas foster innovation and engagement. We strive to provide a disability-inclusive application and interview process.