Jobs / United States / Airbnb
Senior Engineering Manager, Media Foundation
Airbnb · 🇺🇸 United States
Sponsorship verdict
Sponsorship possible
One solid signal, not two — worth applying, and worth asking about sponsorship early.
- Employer is on a government sponsor recordThe US Department of Labor certified 167 H-1B/E-3 labor condition applications for this employer between Oct 2025 and Jun 2026 (latest Jun 2026) — the step every H-1B hire needs first. USCIS also records 71 H-1B approvals in FY2023. Source: LCA disclosure data (US Department of Labor (OFLC)).
- The posting doesn’t mention sponsorshipSilence isn’t a refusal — ask the recruiter before investing much time.
- No salary bar for this routeH-1B has no fixed salary bar: the employer must pay at least the prevailing wage for the role and area. Cap-subject employers enter a lottery weighted by wage level. Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/12/29/2025-23853/weighted-selection-process-for-registrants-and-petitioners-seeking-to-file-cap-subject-h-1b, rules effective 2026-02-27.
- What Airbnb paid sponsored hires in similar roles6 certified filings for “Engineering Manager” (Architectural and Engineering Managers) in CA: $214k–$250k, median $233k. Most were filed at wage level IV (50%) — 4 lottery entries, ≈61% projected selection odds for cap-subject employers. Source: US Department of Labor LCA disclosure data (Oct 2025 – Jun 2026).
- Confirmed live todayWhen a source last listed this job as open.
US H-1B: cap-subject employers enter a lottery weighted by wage level — Level I gets 1 entry, Level IV gets 4 (DHS projected selection odds ≈15% at Level I to ≈61% at Level IV). Universities and non-profit research employers are cap-exempt. The $100,000 fee for new petitions from abroad is currently blocked by a court order (appeal pending).
A verdict summarises public evidence; it is not legal advice and never a guarantee — the employer and the immigration authority decide. Sign in to factor in where you can already work.
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Sponsor Radar — Airbnb
The US Department of Labor certified 167 H-1B/E-3 labor condition applications for this employer between Oct 2025 and Jun 2026 (latest Jun 2026) — the step every H-1B hire needs first. USCIS also records 71 H-1B approvals in FY2023. Source: LCA disclosure data (US Department of Labor (OFLC)).
Past sponsorship or register membership never guarantees sponsorship for this vacancy or for you. Full Sponsor Radar for Airbnb →
About the role
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: The Media Foundation team builds the core platforms and infrastructure that power photo and video capture, upload, processing, storage, and delivery across Airbnb's products, at a massive global scale. We partner closely with Product, Design, Data Science, Trust, and Infrastructure teams to ensure every image and video guests and Hosts see is fast, high-quality, and reliable, from the moment a Host uploads a photo to the moment a Guest views it in search results. The Difference You Will Make: As the Senior Engineering Manager for Media Foundation, you will lead a team of engineers to build and operate Airbnb's media infrastructure, the foundation powering every photo, video, and document that users interact with on the platform. Capabilities include uploads, AI/ML transformations, distribution, and presentation within the product. You will shape the team’s vision and help steer the organization towards our larger goals. This includes day-to-day operations, technical deep dives, community engagement with internal engineering teams, and strategic planning. As the technical and organizational leader for Media Foundation, you own the reliability, scalability, and evolution of the systems that power every media interaction on the Airbnb platform from the moment a host uploads a photo to the instant a guest streams a listing video. Your experience in both media technology and people management will be essential to the maintenance, modernization, and innovation of Airbnb's media platform. You set the bar for engineering excellence, define what great looks like for your team, and create an environment where engineers grow, do their best work, and are proud of what they ship. A Typical Day: • Set technical strategy and architecture for media infrastructure across multiple teams, aligning investment with product and business priorities. • Lead, coach, and grow other managers and senior technical leads, and create an environment where engineers can do their best work. • Partner with Product, Design, Trust, and other infrastructure orgs to shape a resilient, scalable media platform roadmap. • Champion engineering excellence and operational rigor, and resolve systemic technical debt affecting reliability, performance, or velocity. • Retain, grow, and hire a diverse team of high-performing engineers and managers to execute an ambitious media platform vision. Your Expertise: • 12+ years of industry experience, with a minimum of 6+ years in engineering management, including managing other managers or senior technical leads. • Bachelor's and/or Master's degree, preferably in CS, or equivalent experience. • Deep expertise in large-scale distributed systems, with a track record of setting technical strategy and architecture across multiple teams; media/content infrastructure experience (ingestion, processing, storage, CDN delivery) is a strong plus. • Strong product instinct and communication skills, with proven experience influencing senior cross-functional and cross-organizational partners to deliver high-quality, user-facing platform capabilities. • Track record of leading and shipping large, cross-team initiatives with significant business impact, and building a culture of operational excellence, quality, and reliability. • Sound judgment balancing short-term business needs with long-term technical and organizational health, with a flexible lea