Engineering Manager, Core Foundation - San Francisco, CA

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 ...

Job description

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 Community You Will Join
Core Foundation is a cross‑platform team in Product Foundation that empowers product engineers to build high‑quality, performant features across Android, iOS, and Web. We focus on: Insights & Logging, Performance & App Health, and Feature Architecture, partnering closely with Platform (iOS/Android/Web), Analytics Infrastructure, Data Platform, and peer Product Foundation teams to provide cohesive paved paths and standards at scale.

The Difference You Will Make
You will lead the team that underpins Airbnb's foundation solutions for client applications with the instrumentation, performance guardrails, architecture patterns, and developer‑friendly platforms that make durable, scalable product development the default. Your leadership will:

• Define the long term direction for client foundations and shape how product engineering is done across Airbnb.
• Drive adoption of consistent, cross‑platform architecture and best practices for feature development.
• Uplevel performance and app health through guardrails, proactive insights, and paved‑path tooling that shorten feedback loops for product teams.
• Provide a unified, high‑quality event logging experience that enables reliable, data‑driven decisions across surfaces and platforms.

A Typical Day

• Set vision and multi year tech direction for Core Foundation and translate them into clear roadmaps and measurable outcomes.
• Drive alignment across Platform, Backend and Data and is accountable for influencing shared standards.
• Partner with iOS/Android/Web Platform, Analytics Infrastructure, Data Platform, and peer Product Foundation teams to align standards, integrate capabilities, and remove friction for product engineers.
• Guide technical staff to enable lint/compilation rules, observability defaults, configuration patterns and drive adoption via documentation, enablement, and hands‑on support.
• Review designs for foundational systems, balancing near‑term delivery with long‑term maintainability and cross‑platform consistency.
• Manage operations and execution excellence: staffing, prioritization, delivery predictability, incident learnings, and iterative quality improvements.
• Recruit, coach, and develop a high‑performing, inclusive team culture; grow senior technical leaders and future managers.

Your Expertise

• 10+ years of industry experience with 5+ years in engineering management; demonstrated success leading cross‑functional or cross‑platform foundation/platform teams.
• Proven track record establishing client‑side performance/health practices and observability, and driving adoption of paved‑path tooling and standards at scale.
• Hands‑on background in at least one client platform (iOS, Android, or Web) with fluency in modern app and feature architecture patterns; comfort collaborating across all three.
• Experience building or stewarding event logging/instrumentation platforms and improving data quality for analytics and experimentation.
• Strong cross‑org influence and stakeholder management with Platform, Product, Design, and Data partners; clear, persuasive written and verbal communication.
• Commitment to inclusive leadership, talent development, and building psychologically safe, high‑ownership teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with cross‑platform consistency initiatives (e.g., shared patterns, naming, and capabilities) and developer experience investments that accelerate product velocity.
• Familiarity with configuration and server‑driven paradigms and their impact on client architecture and experimentation workflows.

Your Location:
This position is US - Remote Eligible. The role may include occasional work at an Airbnb office or attendance at offsites, as agreed to with your manager. While the position is Remote Eligible, you must live in a state where Airbnb, Inc. has a registered entity. Click here for the up-to-date list of excluded states. This list is continuously evolving, so please check back with us if the state you live in is on the exclusion list. If your position is employed by another Airbnb entity, your recruiter will inform you what states you are eligible to work from.

Our Commitment To Inclusion & Belonging
Airbnb is committed to working with the broadest talent pool possible. We believe diverse ideas foster innovation and engagement, and allow us to attract creatively-led people, and to develop the best products, services and solutions. All qualified individuals are encouraged to apply.

We strive to also provide a disability inclusive application and interview process. If you are a candidate with a disability and require reasonable accommodation in order to submit an application, please contact us at: Please include your full name, the role you're applying for and the accommodation necessary to assist you with the recruiting process.

We ask that you only reach out to us if you are a candidate whose disability prevents you from being able to complete our online application.

How We'll Take Care Of You
Our job titles may span more than one career level. The actual base pay is dependent upon many factors, such as: training, transferable skills, work experience, business needs and market demands. The base pay range is subject to change and may be modified in the future. This role may also be eligible for bonus, equity, benefits, and Employee Travel Credits.

Pay Range

$204,000—$255,000 USD