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:
Payments and Central Strategic Finance & Analytics (SFA) owns the forecasting, reporting, and analysis behind the economics of Airbnb's global payments platform. The team is responsible for planning and reporting payment processing costs and payments-driven financial results to key internal and external stakeholders, and partners with senior leaders across Payments, Product, and Finance to provide analytical support for critical business decisions. The team also supports company-wide performance management, helping run the monthly forum that gives leadership a single view of how Airbnb is tracking against its priorities.
The Difference You Will Make:
Airbnb moves tens of billions of dollars in guest and host payments every year, and the cost of processing those payments is one of the largest drivers of our cost of revenue — so how well we forecast, explain, and optimize it flows straight into the P&L and into what we report to investors each quarter. We're looking for an Associate Principal to own that work: leading Payments and Central SFA through annual planning, quarterly earnings, and monthly forecasting, and turning ambiguous, high-stakes questions into clear frameworks and recommendations that senior leaders act on. You'll operate with a high degree of autonomy and own problems end to end.
A Typical Day:
- Lead forecasting, planning, and variance analysis for Airbnb's payment processing costs (processor, network, and interchange fees) across annual planning, quarterly guidance, and monthly close.
- Partner with Payments product and business leaders to build the financial cases for new initiatives — alternative payment methods, processor routing and cost optimization, pricing, and chargeback/risk strategy.
- Own the financial modeling of payment volume and payment-method mix, translating those movements into their impact on the company P&L.
- Build and improve the analytical frameworks and reporting that connect payments KPIs — acceptance, cost per transaction, GBV and payment flows — to financial outcomes.
- Compile CFO- and executive-level reporting on payments performance, including monthly financial performance reviews and dashboard updates.
- Contribute to the monthly metric forum — helping gather inputs from cross-functional leads, consolidate them into a single company view, and prepare the executive materials leadership uses to track progress against company priorities.
Your Expertise:
- 7+ years of relevant experience in FP&A, investment banking, strategic finance, accounting, or related analytical functions.
- B.A. or B.S. from an accredited four-year college or university.
- Excellent communication skills, with the ability to influence and partner with senior leaders across the organization and make actionable recommendations.
- Hands-on with SQL and modern analytics tools — able to query and analyze large datasets directly, and fluent in using AI-assisted tools to accelerate analysis.
- Highly organized, independent, and self-motivated; owns workstreams end to end with a commitment to consistently accurate, high-quality work.
- Mission-driven, enthusiastic to learn and grow within the SFA organization; team-oriented with a positive attitude.
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$157,000—$172,000 USD