Lead Counsel, Product

Airbnb’s Legal Department is a global team that will require working with diverse international colleagues around the world. The successful candidate will be someone who is adaptable, collaborative and embodies Airbnb’s Core Values. Candidates will be required to approach complex legal issues with a balance for local and global perspectives, while being adaptable to cultural differences and nuances. A genuine and demonstrated interest in Airbnb and a commitment to ethics, integrity and fostering a workplace that emphasizes diversity and belonging is a must.

The Community You Will Join: 

Airbnb’s Legal team embodies the company’s innovative, forward-thinking spirit. At the frontier of the sharing economy, Airbnb is breaking new ground in matters of policy, law, and government relations. Where some see obstacles, we see the opportunity to find creative, practical solutions, right at the cutting edge. Our adventurous, fast-moving legal team is committed to building a team of talented, collaborative and self-motivated legal professionals across the globe who believe in Airbnb’s mission and leading as a 21st century company.  

The Difference You Will Make:

This position will primarily support Airbnb’s Customer Support (CS) Product Marketing and Platform teams, which are responsible for supporting our global host and guest community by building a technology platform that scales alongside Airbnb, delivering exceptional customer service and improving both efficiency and agent experience. These teams are focused on evolving and expanding products like an AI-powered customer service agent, plus leveraging AI to improve tools for our CS agents.  These teams also frequently adapt agent tooling and the CS platform to support a wide variety of new features and other initiatives impacting our users The teams covered and this role is collaborative and highly cross-functional. The role is challenging and requires a pragmatic, strategic leader and business advisor who has a strong background in AI/ML, global regulations and compliance challenges, and consumer protection issues. Familiarity with global privacy laws is key.
In this role, you will be responsible for supporting and providing advice and guidance to the product marketing, platform, operations, design, and engineering teams. You must have excellent judgment in calibrating legal risk against business strategy, and a proven ability to learn new areas of law and function independently in a demanding, fast-paced environment. We’re looking for a highly adaptable and collaborative person who can handle ambiguity and rapidly shifting priorities with flexibility, patience, and poise.  Previous product counsel or analogous experience is required. Your role will require a high degree of self-sufficiency, organizational skills, and proactivity. You will join a supportive, low ego, and friendly product and marketing legal team.

A Typical Day:

• Advise business, product marketing, platform, design, and engineering teams throughout the product development and operations lifecycle on a broad range of legal issues.
• Serve as day-to-day partner for business teams in order to understand the product roadmap and priorities, providing pragmatic and strategic advice in your area of coverage, to mitigate legal risks while advancing business interests. Responsible for driving thoughtful, well supported escalations when appropriate.
• Drive consensus building across legal and coordinate advice on complex legal issues, particularly on laws and regulations dealing with AI/ML, privacy, consumer protection, employment, and other risk areas related to current and proposed business activities.
• Collaborate effectively with global and functional legal counterparts to ensure consistency in guidance and advice that balances regional and local risks with global business needs and constraints.
• Draft clear and concise risk analyses, client communications, memos, in-product disclosures and disclaimers, FAQs, terms of use, policies, and implement related processes.
• Manage outside counsel on complex research issues with an eye toward driving business goals while effectively managing time and cost.

Your Expertise:

• A JD with 12+ years of relevant experience in law firms, governmental agencies, and/or in-house legal departments.
• Prior product counseling or analogous experience is required. In-house experience at a multinational, consumer-facing technology company is strongly preferred.
• Barred in a US state, preferably CA, or eligible to register as California Registered In-House Counsel.
• Knowledge of and meaningful experience applying a variety of regulations and industry guidelines (e.g. consumer protection law, the EU AI Act and US state AI laws, privacy laws like GDPR andCCPA/CPRA, CDA 230, DMCA, E-Commerce Directive, DSA/DMA, and employee misclassification) – including advising in nascent regulatory areas and on shifting regulatory priorities.
• Pragmatic, proactive and flexible team player. Someone with a proven ability to lead collaboratively and work independently, who thrives in fast-paced environments, and is comfortable with change, ambiguity, and risk.
• Rigorous analytical skills that enable high quality work product. Intellectual curiosity, paired with comfort and skill in being challenged and challenging others in pursuit of delivering strong legal advice.
• Demonstrated ability to influence business teams and distill complex topics into concise, clear oral and written legal advice for multiple audiences.
• Tested ability to develop trusted, strong relationships across legal and business partners. Someone who works effectively and strategically with senior business and legal partners to find creative solutions to difficult problems, often under time pressure.
• A solid working knowledge of the Airbnb platform, evolving product lines, and competitive landscape. A passion for our business and travel is a plus.
• Empathetic with strong ethical judgment. Someone who identifies strongly with Airbnb’s core values and whose approach to work models those values.

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: [email protected]. 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.