Compensation Partner

About the Role

The Total Rewards Compensation team at Airbnb serves as a strategic advisor to business leaders, managers, and employees. As a compensation expert, you will leverage data and insights to drive value, build tools and frameworks, and support sound compensation decision-making across the company. This role sits within the Compensation function and collaborates closely with the Technology organization and cross-functional partners including Recruiting, People Analytics, Finance, Legal, and Talent.

As the Technical Compensation Partner, you will serve as the dedicated compensation advisor for the Technology organization, covering Engineering, Infrastructure, Machine Learning, and Data Science. You will support VP and Director-level tech leaders and their Talent Partners, acting as the primary day-to-day compensation resource. The ideal candidate will be a strong business partner, a builder of compensation programs and tools, and comfortable operating with autonomy in a fast-moving environment.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the dedicated compensation partner for the Technology organization, supporting VP and Director-level leaders, Talent Directors, and People Partners across Engineering, Infrastructure, ML/AI, and Data Science.
• Act as the primary point of contact for Talent Directors and senior tech leaders on new hire offers, internal equity reviews, leveling decisions, and out-of-cycle requests.
• Own compensation cycle execution for tech client groups end-to-end, including market benchmarking, budget modeling, manager enablement, and leadership rollups.
• Lead competitive intelligence for technical roles by conducting market research on compensation trends, pay practices, and talent movement across AI, ML, and frontier technology companies.
• Develop benchmarking methodologies that supplement traditional survey data with recruiting signals, offer data, and other real-time market sources.
• Partner with Recruiting and People Analytics to provide market insights and competitive positioning recommendations for technical hires at all levels.
• Design and build compensation models, tools, and frameworks tailored to technical roles, incorporating factors such as AI expertise, research impact, and specialized skills.
• Develop AI-powered compensation tools including benchmarking applications, offer-generation tools, and workflow automation to improve team efficiency and decision quality.
• Build self-service dashboards that give recruiting teams, hiring managers, and People Partners direct access to market data and offer guidance.
• Prepare analyses and presentations for senior tech leadership and cross-functional partners, translating market data into clear strategic recommendations.
• Develop enablement materials that help tech managers understand Airbnb's compensation philosophy and make informed decisions.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of compensation or analytics experience with depth in technical roles and familiarity with the AI/ML talent market.
• Advanced analytical skills including proficiency in Excel and working knowledge of SQL, Python, or R for data analysis and tool development.
• Proven track record as a compensation business partner for a technical or engineering organization, including ownership of cyclical programs end-to-end.
• Strong knowledge of third-party survey methodologies (Radford/Mercer/Comptryx) and ability to build and validate pay structures across geographies and functions.
• Experience leading cross-functional compensation initiatives and comfort navigating ambiguous, fast-moving environments.
• Strong communication skills with a proven ability to present complex compensation data clearly to senior business and technical audiences.

Preferred Skills

• Experience building AI-powered tools or data products, including automated reporting systems or compensation technology prototypes.
• Background in both compensation business partner and programs or analytics roles.
• Experience at a high-growth technology company with exposure to AI, ML, or research-focused organizations.
• Advanced degree in a quantitative field such as Economics, Statistics, or Data Science.
• Experience with Workday, Tableau, BI, and data analytics and compensation platforms.

Location

The successful applicant will need to be based in San Francisco, California.

Pay

Pay Range: $168,000—$210,000 USD. The actual base pay is dependent upon many factors, such as: training, transferable skills, work experience, business needs, and market demands. This role may also be eligible for bonus, equity, benefits, and Employee Travel Credits.