Principal Software Engineer, Performance

About the Role

As a leader in the performance engineering space, you will be instrumental in shaping how Airbnb approaches performance across its full stack, from CPU and GPU fleet utilization to backend service efficiency and end-to-end request latency. Your expertise will guide the development of tooling that enables every backend team to self-serve performance insights, scaling good decisions beyond direct involvement.

Given the seniority of this role, you will operate at both the systems level and the organizational level, influencing build vs. buy decisions on emerging hardware and software technologies. Your ability to define performance objectives and drive delivery will be key to success in this position.

What You Will Do

• Define and drive Airbnb's long-term performance strategy, focusing on product performance, infrastructure efficiency, and business objectives for scale and growth.
• Lead the architecture and development of performance profiling and instrumentation infrastructure, making these capabilities available to all backend teams.
• Partner with infrastructure teams to ensure the fleet operates at optimal utilization, covering compute, reliability, backend frameworks, and AI Infra.
• Connect performance outcomes to business objectives and company-wide SLOs, guiding engineering teams in keeping the stack scalable and efficient.
• Evaluate emerging hardware and software technologies and advise on build vs. buy decisions in areas of strategic importance.
• Mentor and technically uplevel engineers across the organization through design reviews, architectural guidance, and performance best practices.
• Develop and implement strategies for performance monitoring, analysis, and optimization across the software lifecycle.
• Collaborate with product teams to tie infrastructure performance directly to user experience and business outcomes.
• Represent the Performance team in cross-functional initiatives and ensure alignment with company goals.

What We Are Looking For

• 12+ years of performance engineering experience in high-scale, high-growth production environments.
• Deep understanding of how software and hardware systems interact at scale, including architectural patterns for performance-critical stacks.
• Strong familiarity with public cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, or Azure) and container orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Experience with profiling and instrumentation tooling across CPU, GPU, memory, and distributed request tracing.
• Demonstrated ability to define performance objectives and drive delivery in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
• Excellent leadership and mentoring skills, with the ability to technically uplevel engineers across the organization.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with experience working with cross-functional teams.

Nice to Have

• Experience with machine learning infrastructure and the implications of ML on performance engineering.
• Knowledge of emerging trends and technologies in cloud computing, containerization, and orchestration.
• Participation in open-source projects or contributions to the performance engineering community.

Benefits and Perks

• Competitive salary and equity package.
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.
• Flexible PTO policy and paid holidays.
• Remote work stipend and home office setup support.
• Access to professional development opportunities and a budget for conferences and workshops.
• Collaborative and dynamic work environment with a team of experienced professionals.

• Ensure your resume and online profiles highlight specific experience with performance engineering, public cloud infrastructure, and software/hardware interactions.
• Prepare examples of how you've defined and driven performance strategies in previous roles, including metrics for success.
• Familiarize yourself with Airbnb's technology stack and be ready to discuss how your skills align with the company's performance goals.
• Develop a portfolio or be prepared to discuss your contributions to open-source projects or performance engineering communities.
• Practice explaining complex technical concepts in simple terms, demonstrating your ability to communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Be prepared to discuss your approach to mentoring and leading engineers, including how you've handled performance issues in distributed systems.