Senior Staff Data Engineer Jobs in USA with Visa Sponsorship
Senior Staff Data Engineer roles attract H-1B, O-1, and L-1 visa sponsorship from tech, finance, and healthcare employers. At this seniority level, employers routinely sponsor because replacing this expertise is harder than filing the petition. For detailed occupation requirements, see the O*NET profile.
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Get Access To All JobsINTRODUCTION
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
Marketplaces Data and AI is a group of passionate machine learning, software, data, and analytics engineers. We are responsible for developing new, cutting-edge AI and data products that leverage Airbnb’s massive datasets across Users, Listings, Pricing, and Supply/Demand. You will be a crucial part of the Guest and Host organization, building the intelligence that powers the web and native apps used by hundreds of millions of guests and hosts globally.
The Difference You Will Make
You will own some of the most critical data at Airbnb including Users, Listings, and Marketplaces. You will help uplevel Data Engineering practice and foundation while partnering with partner and infra teams to ship data products and ML models. This is a unique opportunity to shape how we develop data products for not just the Users, Listings, and Marketplaces team but also across Airbnb. You will play a major role in how data is integrated into our Guest and Host products by
- understanding the business and product need
- aligning with software engineers, ml engineers and data scientist on data flow designing the foundational data models and uplevel critical data sources
- building scalable data architectures that push the boundaries on latency and volume of data
A Typical Day
We are in the middle of tremendous growth and transformation in the data domain, with significant investments into intelligent products powered by Machine Learning. We are seeking product oriented Senior Staff Data Engineers to drive entity models across Users, Listings, and Marketplace and product initiatives across Quality, Merchandising, and Supply growth.
- Develop and automate large scale, high-performance batch and streaming data processing systems to power Airbnb’s Guest and Host products, machine learning models, and business insights.
- Partner closely with infra teams to improve scalability, data governance, and efficiency
- Evangelize high quality software engineering practices towards building data infrastructure and pipelines at scale, collaborate with infrastructure teams to streamline best practices.
- Advocate for high bar for data and engineering quality ensure eng deliverables are reliable, efficient, well documented, testable, & maintainable.
- Design our data models for optimal storage and understanding, with thoughtful dataflows to power critical product and business requirements.
YOUR EXPERTISE
- 12+ years of relevant industry experience with a Bachelor’s and/or Master’s degree in CS/EE, or equivalent experience, or 9+ years of experience with a PhD
- Experience collaborating with client, backend, ml, analytics teams, product and business partners
- Experience designing and deploying high performance systems with reliable monitoring and logging practices.
- Effectively work across team boundaries to establish overarching data architecture, data flow, and provide guidance to individual teams.
- Strong knowledge of relational databases and query authoring (SQL).
- Strong expertise with Java / Scala / Spark and operating on data at the petabyte scale.
- Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
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: reasonableaccommodations@airbnb.com. 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
$244,000—$305,000 USD
INTRODUCTION
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
Marketplaces Data and AI is a group of passionate machine learning, software, data, and analytics engineers. We are responsible for developing new, cutting-edge AI and data products that leverage Airbnb’s massive datasets across Users, Listings, Pricing, and Supply/Demand. You will be a crucial part of the Guest and Host organization, building the intelligence that powers the web and native apps used by hundreds of millions of guests and hosts globally.
The Difference You Will Make
You will own some of the most critical data at Airbnb including Users, Listings, and Marketplaces. You will help uplevel Data Engineering practice and foundation while partnering with partner and infra teams to ship data products and ML models. This is a unique opportunity to shape how we develop data products for not just the Users, Listings, and Marketplaces team but also across Airbnb. You will play a major role in how data is integrated into our Guest and Host products by
- understanding the business and product need
- aligning with software engineers, ml engineers and data scientist on data flow designing the foundational data models and uplevel critical data sources
- building scalable data architectures that push the boundaries on latency and volume of data
A Typical Day
We are in the middle of tremendous growth and transformation in the data domain, with significant investments into intelligent products powered by Machine Learning. We are seeking product oriented Senior Staff Data Engineers to drive entity models across Users, Listings, and Marketplace and product initiatives across Quality, Merchandising, and Supply growth.
- Develop and automate large scale, high-performance batch and streaming data processing systems to power Airbnb’s Guest and Host products, machine learning models, and business insights.
- Partner closely with infra teams to improve scalability, data governance, and efficiency
- Evangelize high quality software engineering practices towards building data infrastructure and pipelines at scale, collaborate with infrastructure teams to streamline best practices.
- Advocate for high bar for data and engineering quality ensure eng deliverables are reliable, efficient, well documented, testable, & maintainable.
- Design our data models for optimal storage and understanding, with thoughtful dataflows to power critical product and business requirements.
YOUR EXPERTISE
- 12+ years of relevant industry experience with a Bachelor’s and/or Master’s degree in CS/EE, or equivalent experience, or 9+ years of experience with a PhD
- Experience collaborating with client, backend, ml, analytics teams, product and business partners
- Experience designing and deploying high performance systems with reliable monitoring and logging practices.
- Effectively work across team boundaries to establish overarching data architecture, data flow, and provide guidance to individual teams.
- Strong knowledge of relational databases and query authoring (SQL).
- Strong expertise with Java / Scala / Spark and operating on data at the petabyte scale.
- Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
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: reasonableaccommodations@airbnb.com. 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
$244,000—$305,000 USD
How to Get Visa Sponsorship as a Senior Staff Data Engineer
Target employers with established H-1B track records
Companies that have filed H-1B petitions for data engineering roles in prior years are far more likely to sponsor again. Consistent filing history signals an internal process, legal counsel on retainer, and leadership buy-in for international hires.
Position your seniority as the sponsorship justification
Staff and Senior Staff titles signal specialized expertise that's genuinely hard to source domestically. Frame your experience around proprietary systems, large-scale architecture, and cross-functional leadership, which strengthens the specialty occupation argument in the H-1B petition.
Raise the visa conversation after demonstrating value
Bring up sponsorship after a technical screen or take-home, not in the first outreach. At this level, hiring managers have budget flexibility, but they need confidence in the hire before committing to the legal and administrative overhead of a petition.
Ask specifically about cap-exempt employers
Universities, research institutions, and affiliated nonprofits are exempt from the H-1B lottery cap. Senior Staff Data Engineers at these organizations can receive H-1B approval year-round without competing in the annual lottery, which is a meaningful advantage.
Clarify whether the LCA covers your actual work location
If you're working remotely from a state different from the employer's listed address, the Labor Condition Application must reflect your physical work location. Mismatches can create compliance issues at renewal or during an RFE, so confirm this before accepting an offer.
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Get Access To All JobsFrequently Asked Questions
Which visa types do Senior Staff Data Engineers typically get sponsored for?
H-1B is the most common path. Data engineering at the Senior Staff level qualifies as a specialty occupation because the role requires at minimum a bachelor's degree in computer science, information systems, or a closely related field. O-1A is viable for engineers with documented impact, patents, published work, or industry recognition. L-1A or L-1B apply if you're transferring from an overseas office of the same employer.
Does a Senior Staff Data Engineer role qualify as a specialty occupation for H-1B purposes?
Yes, consistently. USCIS has approved H-1B petitions for data engineering roles across thousands of employers. The key requirement is that the position genuinely requires a specific bachelor's degree or higher, not just any degree. Senior Staff roles typically involve distributed systems, data architecture, or pipeline design at scale, which supports the specialty occupation argument clearly. USCIS RFEs on these petitions are relatively uncommon compared to more ambiguous titles.
Does my degree field matter for H-1B sponsorship as a data engineer?
Yes. The degree needs to relate directly to the role. Computer science, software engineering, data science, mathematics, and statistics all support a strong petition. If your degree is in an unrelated field, your employer's attorney will need to build the case around equivalent experience, which requires three years of relevant work experience for every year of missing education. A mismatch doesn't automatically disqualify you, but it adds complexity to the petition.
How competitive is H-1B sponsorship for Senior Staff Data Engineers compared to mid-level roles?
More favorable. Employers are more willing to absorb the cost and administrative effort for Senior Staff hires because the role is harder to backfill. The lottery odds are the same regardless of seniority, but at this level employers are more likely to use premium processing, engage experienced counsel, and respond quickly to RFEs. Cap-exempt employers remain an option worth prioritizing. You can browse Senior Staff Data Engineer roles with confirmed sponsorship on Migrate Mate.
Can I switch employers mid-H-1B as a Senior Staff Data Engineer?
Yes. Under H-1B portability, you can start working for a new employer as soon as they file an H-1B transfer petition, without waiting for approval, as long as your previous H-1B was valid and you're maintaining lawful status. The new employer files a new I-129 petition with an LCA covering your role and location. At Senior Staff level, this process is routine for employers who regularly hire visa holders.
What is the prevailing wage requirement for sponsored Senior Staff Data Engineer jobs?
U.S. employers sponsoring a visa must pay at least the prevailing wage, which is what workers in the same role, area, and experience level typically earn. The Department of Labor sets this rate to make sure companies aren't hiring foreign workers simply because they'd accept lower pay than a U.S. worker. It varies by job title, location, and experience. You can look up current prevailing wage rates for any occupation and location using the OFLC Wage Search page.
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