Design, develop, and maintain backend services and data pipelines that power media ingestion, processing, and serving at Airbnb scale
Build platform capabilities that enable ML/AI teams to trigger analysis workflows, store extracted metadata, and access media intelligence across product surfaces
Work closely with engineers from product teams across Airbnb, understanding their media needs and building self-serve solutions to address them
Continuously optimize and improve the performance, reliability, and cost-efficiency of existing media infrastructure
Stay current with industry trends in distributed systems, media processing, ML infrastructure, and workflow orchestration frameworks
Mentor and guide team members in their career development, fostering a culture of continuous learning and growth

Requirements

5+ years of experience in backend software engineering, with strong foundations in building and operating large-scale distributed systems, and demonstrated experience with media-related technologies (image processing, video transcoding, or metadata management)
Experience building data pipelines, batch processing systems, or platforms that support ML/AI workflows is highly valued
Proficiency in Java, Kotlin, or similar backend languages, with experience designing APIs and data models
Excellent collaboration and communication abilities, with a track record of partnering effectively with cross-functional teams including other ML/AI infra experts.

Benefits

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.

Applicant Tracking System Keywords

Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.

Hard Skills & Tools

backend software engineeringdistributed systemsmedia processingdata pipelinesbatch processingJavaKotlinAPI designdata modelingML/AI workflows

Soft Skills

collaborationcommunicationmentoringteam guidancecross-functional teamworkcontinuous learningproblem-solvingperformance optimizationreliability improvementcost-efficiency